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INDIAN NOTES 




M 



USEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIA 



AND MONOGRAPHS 




HE YE FOUNDATION 



INDIAN NOTES 
AND MONOGRAPHS 

Edited by F. W. Hodge 




A SERIES OF PUBLICA- 
TIONS RELATING TO THE 
AMERICAN ABORIGINES 



material culture of the 
:menomini 

BY 

ALAXSON SKINNER 



NEW YORK 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

HEYE FOUNDATION 

1921 



C99 



■M 



T • ( 



This series of Indian Notes and Mono- 
graphs is devoted primarily to the publica- 
tion of the results of studies by members of 
the staff of the Museum of the American 
Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform 
with Hispanic Notes and Monographs, 
published by the Hispanic Society of 
America, with which organization this 
Museum is in cordial cooperation. A list 
of the publications of the Museum will be 
sent upon request. 

Museum of the American Indian, 

Heye Foundation, 

Broadway at I55lh St., 

New York City. 



iRStitutliMr 
ikik :: 1921 



MATERIAL CULTURE OF 
THE MENOMINI 



BY 

ALANSON SKINNER 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 1^ 

I. :Menommi Culture in General 

Introduction 23 

Religion 28 

The :MitaVin Origin jSIyth 38 

The Dreamers 41 

Pevote 42 

The Hereafter 43 

Social Organization 46 

Tribal Origin :Myth 46 

Gentes and Phratries 47 

Thunder Gens Names 49 

Government 51 

Birth and Naming Customs 52 

Puberty 54 

^Marriage 54 

Games 56 

Two Hitherto Unrecorded 

Games 57 

Sign Language 58 

Warfare • 59 

Societies 64 

The :Mita'\vin 64 

^Medicines and Bundles 65 

The Dreamers 69 

The Witches' Society 69 

The Wa'bano Cult 71 

The Je"sako Cult 71 



INDIAN NOTES 



M E X M I X I CULTURE 



^lita'wape and Te'pape 72 

Thunder Cult 73 

Buttalo Dance Cult 73 

List of Ceremonies 74 

Bear Ceremonies 75 

^Iytholog\- and Folklore 76 

Funeral Customs 7S 

^louming SI 

n. Housing 

Origin of the ^Menomini T}-pe3. ... 83 

The Winter Lodge 85 

The Summer House 86 

The Long-house 87 

Construction of the House 88 

The Winter Lodge 88 

The Simimer House of Bark 93 

The Long-house 99 

The Fireplace 100 

Further Details of Construction 103 

Situation of the House 105 

Vocabulary- 107 

in. Dress 

Men's Attire 109 

Head-dresses 109 

Shirts 113 

Leggings 114 

Breech-cloths 116 

Moccasins 117 

Beaded Ornaments 118 

Tobacco Pouches 120 

An Eagle-feather Dance-bustle. 121 

Women's Attire 122 

Head-dress 122 

Costume 124 

Leggings 125 

Waists 125 



IXDIAX XOTES 



CONTEXTS 



Xecklaces and Belts 126 

Articles of Common Use 127 

Personal Adornment 130 

diodes of Wearing the Hair. . . . 130 

Facial Painting 132 

Tattooing 133 

ISlutilation of the Bodv 135 

Toilet Articles 136 

Vocabulary 140 

IV. Food and its Preparation 

Wild Rice 142 

Traditions of the Rice 142 

The Harvest 143 

Vocabulan* 152 

Wild Potatoes and Other \'egetal 

Foods 152 

Corn and its Preparation 1!>3 

Legend of the Origin of Corn. . . 154 

Cultivation 156 

Preparation 157 

Vocabulary 163 

;Maple Sugar 164 

Legend of the Origin of ^laple 

Sugar 164 

Sugar Makmg 165 

Vocabulary 172 

Hunting. Game, and ^Meats 173 

INlaEcic and Mvthologv of the 

Chase ". ' 173 

Customs of the Chase ISO 

The Feast of tlie First Game. ISO 

The Di\-ision of Game ISl 

Deer Hunting 1S2 

Bear Hunting 1S7 

Other Game 190 

Cannibalism 1*^^! 



AND :M 0X0 GRAPHS 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



^lethods of Preparing and Cook- 
ing Meats 193 

Paunch Boiling; Bark Kettles 195 

Vocabulary 195 

Fishing [[]'[ 195 

Legend of the Sturgeon 199 

Alethods of Catching Fish 200 

Methods of Preparing and Cook- 
ing Fish 204 

Vocabulary 207 

V. Means of Transportation 

Signs and Superstitions of the 

Trail 209 

A Belief in Ghosts 209 

Pabokowa'o 210 

Equipage ." 2II 

Snowshoes 212 

Horse Trappings 212 

Burden-straps 213 

Cradles 214 

Canoes 216 

Birch-bark Canoes 216 

Log Canoes 222 

Vl. Handicraft 

Tanning 224 

Preparation of the Skin 224 

Tanning Fur 225 

Leather ^Making 226 

Vocabulary 229 

Weaving .' 230 

Woven Bags 231 

Hulling-bags 237 

Yarn Sashes 238 

Mats ' 238 

Reed Mats 238 

IMats for Covering Houses 244 



INDIAN NOTES 



CONTENTS 



Bark Mats 247 

String 248 

Varieties of String 251 

Woven Beadwork 252 

Designs 256 

Designs on Woven Bags 259 

Embroider^" 266 

Silk Applique 268 

Description of Specimens 269 

Porcupine Quill work 274 

Antiquity of Floral Motives 276 

Metal Working 279 

Potter\^ 282 

Household Utensils 286 

Wooden Bowls 286 

Tortoise-shell Dishes 288 

Wooden Spoons 289 

Shell Spoons 292 

Baskets and Boxes 293 

Other Receptacles 299 

Brooms 301 

Fire-drills 301 

IMortars 303 

Bone Awls 304 

Bone Needles 307 

An Iron for Quills 308 

Vocabulary 309 

Weapons 310 

War-bundles 310 

Warclubs 314 

Shields and Knives 319 

Bows and Arrows 320 

\'ocabulary 330 

Sculpture 330 

Carving 332 

Carving in Relief 337 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



10 



M EN O MINI CULTURE 



Painting and Etching 

Dyes 

Musical Instruments 

Drums 

Rattles and Jinglers 

Whistles and Flutes 

Receptacles for Tobacco 

Origin of Tobacco 

Sacrificial Dishes 

Pipes 

Vocabulary 

Bags and Pouches for Tobacco . 

Paraphernalia for Games 

VII. Archeology 

Types of Specimens from Meno- 

mini Sites .• • • 

Existing Vocabulary for Ancient 

Artifacts 

VIII. Ethnogeography 

Geographical Band Names . 

Some IVIenomini Place Names m 

Wisconsin 

Bibliographic Notes 

Index 



340 
343 
344 
344 
352 
355 
357 
357 
359 
360 
365 
365 
367 



375 

378 

379 

382 
391 
394 



INDIAN NOTES 



. ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plates 

PAGE 

I. IMita'win memorial rites for 

Chief Xi'opit Oshkosh. Frontispiece 
II. Carr3'ing the drum from the 
^Medicine Lodge to the grave 
of Chief Xi'opit Oshkosh 46 

III. ^[embers of the ^Medicine Society 

assembled about the grave of 

Chief Xi'opit Oshkosh 47 

IV. Semiannual war-bundle ceremony 60 
V. Round winter wigwam 61 

\"i. Details of construction of the 

square house 92 

\'ii. Square bark house 93 

VIII. Interior of So'man Jim's bark 

house 94 

IX. Second view of interior of So'man 

Jim's house. 95 

X. So'man Jim's house and garden. 98 
XI. So'man Jim's war-bundles hung 

on the sacred pole 99 

XII. The long medicine lodge 102 

XIII. Framework of the longlodge . . . 103 

XIV. Otter-fur fillet ornamented with 

medallions of beadwork 108 

XV. Otter-fur fillet made of the entire 

skin 109 



11 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



12 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




XVI. Men in dance costumes, wearing 

fur tnrV>nn«; i iU 


XVII. Joe ]\Ioon in ceremonial costume, 
with yarn sash forming a tur- 
l.ov! Ill 




XIX. Ancient deerskin leggings 11 ^'> 

XX. Leather legging, elaborately 

fringed 118- 


XXI, A. Beaded broadcloth legging. . . 118 
XXT, B. Beaded broadcloth legging... 119 
XXII. Tribal style of moccasin 1 19 

XXIII. Group of men in costume, show- 

ing woven bead ornaments. . . 120 

XXIV. Eagle-feather dance-bustle 121 

XXV. Beaded hair binder, with pen- 

dants 124 

XXVI. Sauk and Fox girl m costume, 
showing mode of wearing head- 
drpss side view i^-l 


XXVII. Sauk and Fox girl in costume, 
showing mode of wearing head- 


XXVIII. Woman in costume, showing 

rl va-r»f>r\- nf «iVin\vl IZv") 


XXIX. Woman in costume, showing slit 

skirt 126 


XXX. Group of men and women in cos- 
tume 12/ 


XXXI. Woman's legging, beaded and 


appiiqucu .■■■■, ■.->-) 

XXXII. Waist, Potawatomi style 1^>5 

XXXIII. Bead necklaces, and beaded gar- ^ 
ter with Thunderbird design, l^i 


■v-w\' Tnilpt «;pt l^y) 






INDIAN NOTES 



ILLUSTRATIONS 


13 


XXXVI. Winnowing tray of bark 


141 




xxxvil. Squashes cut in strips and hung 






to dry 


154 




xxxvm. Mortar and double-ended pestle. 


155 




xxxix. Bark sap dish and wooden sap 






spout 


164 




XL. Wooden ladle for stirring sap, 






and wooden mortar 


165 




XLi. Snowshoes 


210 




XLTi. Pack-saddle with carved pommel 


211 




XLiii. Child's carrying-board or cradle 


214 




XLi\' . Carrying a child in a cradle 


215 




XLV. Portaging a birch-bark canoe . . . 


218 




XLVi. Birch-bark canoe 


219 




XLvn. Log canoe or dugout 


222 




XLvm. Cutting the hair from deerskin. 


223 




XLix. Scraping the deerskin with a 






beaming tool 


226 




L. Wringing the deerskin 


227 




LT. Stretching the deerskin by hand 228 




Lii. Smoking the deerskin 


229 




Liii. Woman weaving a yarn bag 


230 




Liv. Bag of closed twined weave and 






hulling-bags of open twined 






weave 


231 




LV. Bag of twined and diagonal 






twined weaving, obverse and 






reverse 


234 




LVI. Woven bags for storage purposes 


235 




Lvn. Weaving yarn sashes 


238 




Lvin. Mat in process of weaving 


239 




Lix. Reed mat of diagonal weave. 






with linked diamond design. . 


242 




LX. Reed mat of over and under ver- 






tical weave, with floral designs 


243 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





14 MENOMINI CULTURE 



Lxi. Preparing bark for string 248 

LXii. Rolling bark fibers into twine . . . 249 

LXiii. Garters of woven beadwork 252 

LXiv. Bandoleer and bag of woven 

beadwork, and beaded belt . . . 254 
Lxv. Bandoleer and bag of woven 

beadwork 255 

Lxvi. Bandoleer and bag of woven 

beadwork 256 

Lxvii. Beaded medicine pouch, showing 
animal designs, obverse and 

reverse 257 

Lxviii. Beaded cosmetic pouch, obverse 

and reverse 258 

LXix. Beaded medicine pouch, obverse 

and reverse 259 

Lxx. Thunderbird designs woven on 

bags 262 

Lxxi. Animal designs woven on bags.. 263 
Lxxii. Ancient designs woven on bags. 264 
Lxxiii. Conventionalized realistic de- 
signs 265 

Lxxiv. Conventionalized geometric de- 
signs 266 

Lxxv. Quill embroidery on otter-fur 

bags 267 

Lxxvi. Quill embroidery on otter tails. 268 
Lxxvii. Quilled pouch made of eagle-skin 269 
Lxxviii. Floral designs: a, on . breech- 
clout; b, on cradle-band 272 

Lxxix. Birch-bark boxes 273 

Lxxx, Silver brooches 282 

Lxxxi. Round wooden bowl 283 

Lxxxii. Broom made from a cedar post.. 314 
LxxxTii. An ancient t}npe of flat warclub. 315 



INDIAN NOTES 



ILLUSTRATIONS 


15 


LXXXIV. 


Warclubs: a, ball-headed; b, 








hafted; c, flat 


318 




LXXX\'. 


Buffalo-hide ammunition pouch 








and powder horn 


319 




LXXX^I. 


Statue of the god Wa'bano. . . . 


330 




LXXX\II. 


Wooden puppet used for pur- 








poses of magic 


331 




LXXX\"III. 


Wooden puppet used as a love 








charm 


332 




LXXXIX. 


Wooden puppet used as a love 








charm 


33o 




XC. 


Wooden puppets bound together 








as a love charm 


334 




XCI. 


Owl carved in wood 


335 




XCll. 


Carved wooden spoon 


336 




XCIII. 


Carved sacrificial dish of catlin- 








ite 


337 




XCIV. 


Dice carved of bone or antler. . 


33S 




xcv. 


Two heddles carved in relief. . . . 


339 




XCVI. 


War-bundle wrapper of deerskin 








adorned \nth drawings 


340 




XCVII. 


Grave-posts, etched and painted 341 




XCVIII. 


Drums: a, used in the Woman's 








Dance; b, the water-drum... . 


346 




XCIX. 


Drum and stick of the Wa'bano 








cult 


347 




c. 


Tinv drum of the Wa'bano 








Kime'wun 


350 




CI. 


Plaving the lover's flute 


351 




CII. 


Frame for drving Ki'nikinik. . . . 


358 




cm. 


Pipe-bowls with wooden stems. . 


359 




CIV. 


Tobacco-pouch with flower de- 








sign in beads 


364 




cv. 


Tobacco-pouch of woven yarn. . 


365 




CVI. 


Snow-snake, and ponv-foot la- 








crosse stick 


368 




c\-ii. 


Cup-and-Din came . 


369 






AND MONOGRAPHS 





16 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Figures 

1. Wooden pot-hook 102 

2. Roach spreaders of antler 112 

3. Back comb of German silver 123 

4. Necklace of bear's claws 128 

5. Silver bracelets ^ 129 

6. Modified hair-cut, showing scalp-lock. . 131 

7. Toilet set 137 

8. Comb-case carved from the antler of a 

moose, obverse 138 

9. Comb-case carved from the antler of a 

moose, reverse 139 

10. PulHng stick for harvesting rice 146 

11. Shoulder-yoke used in gathering sap .. . 168 

12. Wooden deer call 183 

13. Hunter using the deer call 184 

14. Jacklight used in hunting game 186 

15. Typical canoe paddle 222 

16. Beaming tool for scraping deerskin. ... 227 

17. Needles made of the ribs of the buffalo 246 

18. Hourglass design. . : 260 

19. Sacrificial food dishes 260 

20. Grave-shed design 260 

21. Diamond design 260 

22. Spider-web design 260 

23. Indented diamonds 270 

24. Stepped triangles and diamonds 270 

25. Stepped triangle and floral design 270 

26. Elongate diamonds 270 

27. Oak-leaf and acorn 271 


28. Antennae motive 271 


29. Antennae, hearts, and diamonds 272 

30. Stepped diamond and elongate figure. . 272 

31. Rings of beaten metal 281 




INDIAN NOTES 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



17 



32. Metal earring with incised design. .. . 281 

33. Pottery jar with pointed base 285 

34. Oval wooden bowl 287 

35. Round wooden bowl 287 

36. Bowl made of tortoise-shell 289 

37. Ceremonial ladle 290 

3S. Long-handled ladle 291 

39. Spoon with straight handle 291 

40. Spoon with hooked handle 292 

41. Spoon made from the scapula of a 

young bear 293 

42. Sweet-grass basket ornamented with 

cjuillwork 296 

43. Sweet-grass basket ornamented with 

quillwork 297 

44. Bison-hide trunk 298 

45. Wooden box used to hold eagle-feathers 299 

46. Rawhide pouch for holding porcupine- 

quills 300 

47. Rawhide pouch for holding porcupine- 

quills 300 

48. a, Torch in birch-bark case; h, Rope of 

cedar-bark used to transport fire. . . . 302 

49. Bone awl now used in basketry 304 

50. Awl with bone point in wooden grip. . 305 

51. Bone and antler handled awls with 

metal points 306 

52. Snowshoe needles made of bone 307 

53. Quill smoother made of antler 308 

54. Ball-headed type of warclub 315 

55. Grooved stone axe 318 

56. Bow with tally notches 321 

57. Hafted arrows 324 

58. Glue-stick 325 

59. Blunt arrow 327 

60. Quilled quiver 328 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



18 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




61. Wooden bowl carved to represent a 

porcupine 336 


62. Carved moccasin pitterns 337 

63. Canoe paddle, obverse and reverse .... 339 

64. Grave-post 342 

65. Sorcerer's stake . . 342 


66. Anthropomorphic concept of thunder. 343 

67. Drumstick for water-drum 346 

68. Tortoise charm attached to the. Wa'- 

bano drum 350 

69. Shaman's necklace 351 

70. Gourd rattle 352 

71. Gourd rattle in conical case of bark. . . 353 

72. Deer-hoof and dew-claw rattle 354 

73. Flageolet with carved slide 356 

74. Sacrificial platter with incised carving . 360 

75. Miniature canoe, a charm against 

drowning 360 

76. Ordinary lacrosse stick 367 

77. Lacrosse ball 368 

78. Shinny stick 368 

79. Shinny balls 369 




INDIAN NOTES 



m: 



PREFACE 

THE data on which this article is 
based were obtained among the 
Menomoni Indians of Wisconsin 
during a series of studies extend- 
ing over eleven years, conducted in behalf 
of the IMuseum of the American Indian, 
Heye Foundation, and the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History. Thanks are due 
to the latter institution for photographs of 
specimens collected by the writer, and to the 
PubHc jMuseum of the City of Milwaukee 
for photographs taken in the field by Dr S. 
A. Barrett and illustrations of articles col- 
lected by him. 

Among Indian informants to whom special 
credit is due for their interest are the fol- 
lowing, many of whom are deceased. The 
names of those no longer Hving are marked 
with an asterisk: 
Ni'opit Oshkosh,* Pitwa'skum* and wife,* 



19 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



20 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Wiu'skasit,* Ke'soa'pomesao* and wife,* 
Thomas Ko'kosh,* Wa'sikwonat,* Na'tci- 
wishko,* John Keshena* and wife,* Xaiato- 
wa'pikineu,* j\Irs John Perrote,* So'man 
Jim,* Big Jim Pa"monit,* Judge John 
Perrote,* John Amob, Wa'niskum, James 
Blackcloud, Dave Wa'pus, Wi'sanokut, 
Kse'watosa, Kine'sa, Kime'wun Oke'mas, 
Jane Kii'kak, Antoine Shi'pikau, Louis 
Ka'kwatc, Phihp Niiku'ti,* Mrs Wiu'skasit, 
Mrs Kopai'as Weke Hog, Peter and Jim 
Fish, Matilda Jackson, Joe and Sophie 
Pecore, Louis Pigeon, Mrs Ni'opit Oshkosh, 
Nawagi'zikwap, Mrs Naia'towapomi; last, 
and most important of all, ex-captain of 
Indian PoHce, John V. Satterlee. 

Supplementary data have been gathered 
from time to time at first hand among the 
Eastern Cree, 1908-09; the Plains Cree,. 
1913; the Northern Saulteaux (Ojibwa), 
1909; the Plains Ojibwa, 1913; the Forest 
Potawatomi, 1912; the Winnebago, 1909; 
the Eastern Dakota, the Iowa, Oto, Ponca, 
and Kansa, 1914; the Seminole, 1910; the 
Seneca, 1904; and the Oneida, 1909. These 
additional data have been of considerable 



INDIAN NOTES 



PREFACE 



21 



aid in making a comparative study of the 
material culture of the Menomini. 

The pronunciation of native terms is indi- 
cated b}^ the use of the symbols appended, 
the letters not included having their conti 
nental values. Sounds indicated b}^ ou 
letters f and r do not occur. 

a as in flat. e as in bet. 

a as aw in raw. « as in luck. 

an as ow in how. ■ " a whispered terminal u. 

ai as in aisle. -''^ a whispered aspirant. 

I as in bit. ' glottal stop. 

Alanson Skinner. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE 
MENOMINI 

By Alanson Skinner 

I. MENOMINI CULTURE IN 
GENERAL 

INTRODUCTION 



'ai y IN ORDER that the reader may ob- 
81-* tain that insight into Menomini 
^^^ life which is essential before the 
material culture of the tribe can be 
fully appreciated, a brief digest of the writ- 
er's previous work will be presented before 
taking up the principal subject of this mono- 
graph. As a matter of course, details can- 
not be given, but for the benefit of those 
desirous of pursuing the subject further, a 
bibliography pertaining thereto will be 
found at the conclusion of the paper. It is 
regrettable that ethnological writings cannot 
be made to give an adequate idea of the at- 



23 



INDIAN NOTES 



24 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




mosphere of Indian life, nor to bring out 
sufificiently the personality of the people 
dealt with; therefore a few words concerning 
the character of the Menomini as they are 
today may not be amiss. 

The Menomini, who now dwell on their 
reservation in north-central Wisconsin, are 
a typical Algonkian people in language, 
belonging to the same sub-group as the Sauk 
and Fox, whose dialects resemble Cree rather 
than Ojibwa. While two-thirds or more of 
the tribe of some 1750 souls now profess 
Christianity, the remainder are either frankly 
"pagan" or are in sympathy with pagan 
beliefs. The spread of the " Peyote religion" 
has been very hmited among them, and has 
met with such determined opposition on the 
part of the adherents of all other beliefs, 
that only a few outlying families connected 
with the Winnebago and the Potawatomi by 
marital ties have been converted. Of these, 
some have since sought and received rein- 
statement in the ancient tribal rites. 

From a conservative people, among whom 
old customs and especially rehgion were in 
full vigor up to very recently, it has been a 




INDIAN NOTES 



CHARACTERISTICS 


25 


difficult task, at best, to acquire informa- 
tion. An added difficulty has been the psy- 
chology of even the most willing informants. 
In the writer's experience the Algonkian is 
a mystic, a dreamer, whose ideas are often 
so vague and uncrystalized that it is difficult 
for him to express them in words. The 
Siouan and the Iroquoian Indians, with 
their more practical minds, are always able 
to present a concrete idea m comprehensible 
form, somethmg by which an Algonkian is 
at times completely baffled. 

With the IMenomini, therefore, the gain- 
ing of data has been a tedious process. The 
writer's first visit to their reservation was 
made in 1909, and m addition to many sub- 
sequent trips, he has been and still is in con- 
stant correspondence with several members 
of the tribe. By patience and persistent 
questioning, a mass of definite facts has been 
elicited. Hostile secretiveness has been 
virtually overcome through years of associa- 
tion; for when one has taken part in native 
feasts and sacrifices, or sat in the ceremonies 
of the secret societies; when one has assisted 
in the funeral rites of the dead, hunted and 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





26 


M EN MINI CULTURE 




fished, eaten and slept, with the Hving, inti- 
macy comes at length. Constant cultiva- 
tion of friendship with the shamans and eld- 
ers, assistance of the needy (for no Meno- 
mini who receives' a kindness feels entirel}^ 
free of obligation until some favor has been 
done in return), and adoption into the fam- 
ily of a leading priest and shaman, have all 
played their part. Thus have come the 
data and specimens needed for illustration, 
often as free tokens of friendship, to form a 
record of Menomini life. 

Two fine old men have contributed largely 
to the success of this undertaking, ex-cap- 
tain of Indian PoHce, John V. Satterlee, and 
the late Indian Court Judge John (Sabatis) 
Perrote. Captain Satterlee in particular 
has labored incessantly, often without re- 
muneration, to have the annals of his people 
made complete. 

Ordinary exoteric matters of daily life 
were less difficult to record, especially as 
many customs could still be observed at first 
hand. But, conservative as were the Me- 
nomini, two events in recent years have 
acted to make a sudden end of the old-time 




INDIAN NOTES 



PRESENT STATUS 


27 


culture. The influenza epidemic of 1919- 
20 swept away many members of the Pagan 
party, especially those elders in whose mem- 
ories reposed the rituals of the ceremonies. 
The war with Germany also had a powerful 
effect on the tribe, though but few of the 
Menomini, as compared with their Siouan 
neighbors, the Winnebago, were carried to 
Europe. The fact that the Government 
accepted their young men as soldiers, and 
asked them, on equal terms with their white 
neighbors, for pecuniary and moral assist- 
ance, encouraged them to realize their 
equality with their white compatriots. The 
Menomini have definitely turned from the 
old road, and while many will persist in 
continuing their ancient customs for some 
years to come, their ranks will lessen with 
ever-increasing rapidity. The old way is 
doomed. 

To those familiar with some bands of the 
Ojibwa, the Potawatomi, Sauk, Fox, and 
Winnebago, all of whom have been inti- 
mately associated with the ]\Ienomini, it 
win doubtless seem surprising that many 
customs apparently common to all the Cen- 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





28 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



tral tribes vary greatly from people to 
people when intensively observed. The 
phenomenon is quite general; even tribes 
of the same linguistic stock, closely related 
politically and socially, are prone to hold 
startlingly divergent behefs, and to main- 
tain outwardh' similar yet inwardly incom- 
prehensible rites and ceremonies. 

In concluding, it should be noted that 
several phases of IMenomini life are yet to 
be fully studied. The language of the 
people requires further attention; their 
music has been neglected and their rich 
ethno-botany furnishes an alluring field for 
research. 

RELIGION 

The present religion of the IMenomini is a 
complex of ancient and modern behefs. 
many of which seem confused and contra- 
dictory. But when examined with attention 
to the extraneous influences brought to 
bear on the tribe within historic times, these 
readily emerge from their obscurity. From 
the writings of the Jesuits and other early 
French adventurers, and from modern tribal 



INDIAN NOTES 



RELIGION 


29 


practices and traditions, in many cases vir- 
tually identical with those found in vogue 
by the first white chroniclers, it becomes 
apparent that the tribe has always pos- 
sessed a mass of concepts concerning the 
universe, which may be stated briefly as 
follows. 

The earth is believed to be an island, 
floating in an illimitable ocean, separating 
the two halves of the universe into an upper 
and a lower portion, regarded as the abode 
of the benevolent and the malevolent pow- 
ers, respectively. Each portion is divided 
into four superimposed tiers, inhabited by 
supernatural beings, the power of whom 
increases in ratio to their remoteness from 
the earth. In the highest tier above the 
earth resides the deity to whom all others 
are subordinate. The testim.ony of the 
early writers is unanimous that this being 
was the Sun, but he is now, probably 
through missionary influence, personified as 
the Great Spirit (Mate Hawd'tuk), leaving 
the Sun in an anomalous position. 

Beneath the supreme being, in descend- 
ing order, some say clustered about a cylin- 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





30 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




drical opening in the heavens, are three tiers 
of bird-like deities. First, in the empyrean, 
come the Thunderbirds, gods of war. As- 
sociated with these, in some manner not 
apparent, is the IMorning Star. Next 
comes the reahn of the Golden or War 
Eagles, and the White Swan; and last, in 
the stratum which touches the earth, birds 
of all species, headed by the Bald Eagles 
and various hawks, kites, and swallows. 
All these birds, regardless of stratum, are 
servants and messengers of the Great Spirit, 
any existing species named being thought 
to be earthly representatives of the Thun- 
derers. 

Except for the Sun and the IMorning 
Star, Httle attention is paid to the heavenly 
bodies. The Moon is regarded as pos- 
sessed of power, but is not important. 
There are also certain minor sacred per- 
sonages who dwell in the sky-country, 
among whom are several sisters who preside 
over the destinies of women, and to whom 
various colors are appropriate. Their place 
in the heavenly strata is not fixed. 

Beneath the earth, there is, in the lowest 




INDIAN NOTES 



RELIGION 


31 


tier, the Great White Bear with a long cop- 
per tail, who, in addition to being the chief 
and patron of all earthly bears and the tra- 
ditional ancestor of the IMenomini tribe, 
is the principal power for evil. He has, as 
a servant, a mythical hairless bear. Next, 
in ascending order, is the great Underground 
Panther, who figures extensively in the 
demonology of the Central Algonkian and 
Southern Siouan tribes. He is represented 
on earth by the panther and the lynx. 
Next is the White Deer, prominent in the 
origin myth of the ^ledicine Dance. Last 
of all, close to the earth, and often visible 
to its inhabitants, is the Horned Hairy 
Serpent, so generally found in North Ameri- 
can mythology. 

The earth itself is peopled by a myriad 
of fantastic hobgoblins. Cannibal giants 
dwell in the icy region of the north; a malev- 
olent living skeleton, with death-dealing 
eyes, haunts the forests after nightfall. 
Similar to him, but less terrible, is a mys- 
terious person bearing a sacred bundle upon 
his back, who, Hke the Wandering Jew, is 
doomed to travel ceaselessly in expiation of 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





32 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



some forgotten sin. He wrestles with 
Indians from time to time, and, if overcome, 
grants his conqueror long hfe; if -he is the 
victor, the days of the vanquished are 
numbered. 

A race of p:,-gmies inhabits remote rocky 
fastnesses. A well-disposed elf smites peo- 
ple on the head with a soft warclub, causing 
sleep. Flying heads and skulls, of varying 
intentions toward the race of men, exist; 
and there is a mysterious man who follows 
and molests belated travelers. Rocks, 
ponds, and hills have their fancied denizens.' 
All species of animals are ruled by supernat- 
ural chiefs, mostly dwelling underground 
and these, with the Powers of the Under- 
world, show themselves on earth from time 
to time. In swamp-holes, lakes, and rivers, 
under waterfalls, and in lonely hills may be 
found stray horned snakes, bears, panthers, 
and, in modern times, dogs, hogs, and 
horses. 

Wringing their living from a reluctant 
earth filled with such marvelous and often 
dangerous beings, menaced by the imaginary 
forces of the Underworld, what wonder that 



INDIAN NOTES 



RELIGION 


S3 


the earliest traceable religious observances 
among the ]\Ienomini and their neighbors 
are those of propitiation and supplication of 
the Evil Forces! True, the Good Gods are 
not forgotten; for instance, it is believed 
that only the incessant warfare waged by 
the Thunderers upon the Powers Below pre- 
vents their constant appearance on earth to 
the bane of men; but, working on the the- 
ory that it was wise to placate that which 
they could in no wise combat, the elders 
dedicated the greater part of the sacrifices 
of antiquity to the Nether Gods. At an 
early date, however, we find that sacred 
objects and rites, supposed to have been 
given in dreams to individuals for the bene- 
fit of the tribe, were known. Chief of these 
articles were the war-bundles, strong charms 
for defense and offense. 

Certain men who succeeded in getting en 
rapport with the deities, as for example, 
members of the Wa'hano cult, who are 
prophets, seers, and jugglers, through the 
aid of the Morning Star, or of the Je"sako- 
wuk, who are doctors and diviners through 
supernatural visions, came to be recognized. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





34 


MENOMINI CULTURE 


• 


as did sorcerers, who obtained personal 
benefits from the Powers of Evil in return 
for harassing their fellowmen. 

The matter of getting into communica- 
tion with the deities, or some of them, was 
the private concern of every individual of 
the tribe, male or female, and was accom- 
plished by fasting, and thus ''incubating," 
or artificially inducing, dream-revelations 
when at the age of puberty. In this way 
were the war and hunting bundles obtained, 
as well as personal charms, fetishes, and the 
rituals of various loosely organized cults, 
such as the ''Buffalo Dance," and the ex- 
tinct "Thunder Society." 

Sacrifices of food, clothing, dogs, and, 
especially, tobacco, were and are constantly 
made to all supernatural powers, accom- 
panying petitions for various gifts and 
blessings. Tobacco is supposed to be highly 
prized by all the deities, and no prayer is 
complete without it. Such an offering 
must be made to all medicine-bags or bun- 
dles on displaying, opening, or disturbing 
them. 

No request for information of the esoteric 




INDIAN NOTES 



RELIGION 



sort addressed to the elders is valid without 
being accompanied with the herb. Tobacco 
is sacrificed by placing it on or near the ob- 
ject to which it is offered, by throwing it in 
the air. if the recipient addressed is one of 
the Powers Above, or burying it in the earth 
if he be one of the Underworld Gods. It is 
often smoked, and the pipe or its fumes 
proffered, but it is almost never cast on the 
fire for incense. 

Traceable to an early beginning, founded 
wholly on the foregoing beliefs, and inti- 
mately associated with the tribal origin and 
cosmogonic myths, are the rehgious teach- 
ings of the important and little-understood 
society called the Mitd'icin. In the cosmo- 
gonic myth we are told that the Great 
Spirit (Sun) created the earth and caused it 
to spring up on itself personified as a woman 
("our grandmother"), and that she eventu- 
ally became miraculously pregnant and 
gave birth to a daughter. The daughter in 
turn conceived, some say through the agency 
of the Four Winds, but she was torn asunder 
in childbirth, having previously borne a be- 
ing known as the Great Hare {Miitc Wa'pus, 



35 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



36 


MENOMINI CULTURE 


• 


since corrupted into Md"ndhus), a wolf, also 
known as Na''^patdo, an anthropomorphic 
personage, and a flint stone, the latter issuing 
unnaturally and causing her death. Some 
versions of the myth make her also the 
mother of all animal kind. 

Of the children, the Great Hare, who 
rarely appears except in human form, is by 
far the most important, for he alone is im- 
bued with the power of the Great Spirit. 
He proceeded to prepare the world for its 
coming occupancy by human tenants 
through a series of tremendous and heroic 
deeds, including the recreation of the earth 
after the flood. 

Although it seems difficult to reconcile 
the character of the timorous and foolish 
hare with that of the great earth-making 
Culture God, child of the primal forces, if 
we accept Brinton's hypothesis that among 
Algonkians the name of the hero was origin- 
ally compounded not with the word wa'pus, 
a hare, but with wa'pan, meaning dawn, 
east, or light (I have here employed the 
Menomini native terms), and has since be- 
come confused by oral descent through gen- 




TNDIAN NOTES 



RELIGION 


37 


erations until it has assumed its present 
form, we have a worthy native conception of 
a heroic demigod.^ 

This encourages further speculation. The 
Menomini, and indeed the Central Algon- 
kians in general, may well have possessed in 
their folklore a Hare trickster, corresponding 
with the Plains Spider or Coyote, who was 
responsible for the cycle of comic, senseless, 
and obscene escapades, which now, through 
this confusion of identity between wa'pan 
and wa'pus, are appended to the mighty 
achievements of the Culture Hero-God 
though utterly foreign to his original char- 
acter. In this connection it is interesting 
to note that the more northerly Ojibwa and 
Cree have a trickster, whose name, Tcika'pis, 
may conceivably be derived from 'tci wa'pus, 
or Great Hare, in addition to the Culture 
Hero-God.2 This theory would at once 
make clear one of the hitherto inexplicable 
puzzles of North American mythology, and 
the solution is rendered the more probable 
by the fact that it is principally the foolish 
and unworthy incidents of the dual cycle 
which are found generally diffused over the 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





38 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




greater part of the continent; the serious 
cosmogonic, and especially the sacred ritu- 
alistic myths, being confined to the Central 
Algonkians, and perhaps not to all of them. 

The Mita'win Origin Myth 

Be this as it may, in his endeavors to 
better existing conditions for the benefit of 
his human successors, Md"ndhus angered 
the Evil Gods, who sought to slay him. 
Failing in this, they did away with his 
younger brother the Wolf. In revenge, the 
Great Dawn destroyed some of their num- 
ber and wounded others, later killing them 
by substituting himself for their doctor and 
thus gaining admission to their homes. 
In order to escape, the remaining Evil Be- 
ings, in consultation with the Good Powers, 
decided to offer the Great Dawn their secret 
knowledge of prolongation of Hfe by the 
magic and medicinal use of herbs and roots, 
the hairs of our Earth Grandmother. To 
this they added the assurance of, if not im- 
mortality, at least a safe journey and cer- 
tain admission to the Abode of the Dead, 




INDIAN NOTES 



R-ELIGION 



through the songs and ritual of the Aledicine 
Lodge. 

Persuaded to accept, through the un- 
sought soHcitation of Otter, the Great Dawn 
attended the conference, and was initiated 
by the Gods in their Celestial Medicine 
Lodge; the ceremony consisting, in part, of 
his being attacked in succession by four of 
the leaders, who "shot" into his body the 
essence of the power contained in the medi- 
cine-bags which they carried, these being 
composed of the animal skins or natures 
which they had worn, and of which they 
had divested themselves for the occasion, in 
order to assume human form. The Great 
Dawn was slain by this supernatural essence, 
but was later brought to life, and was then 
possessed, not only of the power thus in- 
jected into him, but of more than earthly 
knowledge. Bidden to carry the rites of the 
Celestial Lodge to mankind, his ''uncles and 
aunts," he did appear to them, and intro- 
duced the still existing Medicine Dance, the 
ritual of which embodies the dramatization 
of this myth, and in many fundamental con- 
cepts so closely resembles the rites of the 



39 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



40 


M E N M I N I CV L T T R K 




white society known as the Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, that only the undoubted 
pre-European origin of the Indian fraternity 
makes suspicion of influence by contact un- 
tenable. Like the Masons, the Mita'win is 
a closed organization, which keeps its ritual 
secret from non-members, even within the 
tribe. Initiation is by purchase, the candi- 
date often taking the place of a deceased 
member, and neither age nor sex bars any- 
one from membership. 

To the members of the society the Great 
Dawn is more than one of the series of tribal 
gods; he is the principal deity. He is fe- 
vered as the giver, through the other gods, 
of life, future existence, curative medicines 
and formulae; he is patron of the Je"sako 
doctors and seers, master of game, and 
donor of the hunting-bundles and charms. 
Members of the society are called familiarly, 
among themselves, ''followers of M(i"nd- 
hus'' and the rites of the lodge and the fra- 
ternal help it extends to its members are 
"the ways of the Great Dawn." These are 
facts with which students of North Ameri- 
can ethnology have not been familiar, 




INDIAN NOTES 



RELIGION 


41 


though many of them were noted by the 
earliest explorers. 

The DREAiffiRS 

At a very much later period, probably 
just before the middle of the last century, a 
new religious cult was introduced among the 
Menomini, probably by the Potawatomi 
of the Prairie. This is a society called 
"The Dancing Men," or "The Dreamers," 
whose rites are founded on a ritual supposed 
to have been given to a little girl in a dream, 
subsequent to a battle between whites and 
Indians. A spirit appeared to the little 
fugitive and promised her protection for her 
people, provided they worshiped the Great 
Spirit through the medium of a special 
drum. To do this, a society was formed, 
having various chapters, each provided with 
its quota of officers, on the plan of many of 
the Southern Siouan societies. The asso- 
ciation holds periodical public ceremonies 
outdoors, and private performances, mainly 
to heal the sick, indoors. It is not secret, 
nor is admission by purchase. 

The chief paraphernalia are a huge sacred 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





42 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



drum and its accompanying pipes, which 
are constantly attended, day and night, by 
a member appointed as guard; and the 
eagle-feather bustle worn during certain of 
the outdoor dances. Membership does not 
debar one from the Mitd'win, and of late 
years, with the gradual decay of the definite 
functions and titles of the officers as origin- 
ally conceived, a curious confusion of the 
tenets of this society with those of the 
Mitafwin has been noted. 

Peyotf 

Since 1914, or perhaps a few years earlier, 
the so-called "Peyote religion" has put in 
an appearance in certain settlements where 
members of the tribe are married to Winne- 
bago or Potawatomi addicts. As the writer 
has not undertaken the study of this new 
craze with any of the Hmited number of its 
:\Ienomini adherents, he is not in a position 
to speak with authority on the subject. 
The dogma of the members is reported to 
be a mixture of pagan and Christian behefs, 
which seem to be entirely of an ennobhng 
and uplifting character, but the accompa- 



INDIAN NOTES 



RELIGION 


43 


nying ceremonies consist largely in the pro- 
curing of visions by means of the use of the 
powerful narcotic peyote, which can have 
only a deleterious effect on its users. The 
cult is not secret, but membership in the 
order precludes any in all other societies, 
and demands the abandonment of all an- 
cient practices, with the destruction of their 
paraphernalia. If its converts increase ma- 
terially in numbers (which at present seems 
improbable, owing to the opposition of the 
conservatives among both Christian and 
pagan parties, coupled with the antagonism 
of the government officers attached to the 
reservation), its success will mean the death- 
blow to all the ancient customs of the tribe, 
already decadent, without the compensation 
of any advantageous or progressive substi- 
tute. 

The Hereafter 

It is beheved that each person is pos- 
sessed of two separate souls. One, really 
the ghost, is the intellect, which resides in 
the head. This spirit Hngers about the 
graveyard for an indefinite time after the 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





44 


MENOIMINI CULTURE 




funeral, and gives sharp whistling cries at 
night. Offerings of food are made to it. 
The other is the true soul, which is immor- 
tal, and travels over the Road of the Dead 
(The Milky Way) to the Land of Spirits. 
One of the principal objects of the Mitd'wln, 
or Medicine Lodge Society, is to prepare 
members to make this difficult journey in 
safety. 

The road to the Otherworld is broad and 
plainly marked, but various obstacles and 
temptations are found along the way, de- 
signed to lead the unworthy astray. As the 
length of the pilgrimage is four days and 
four nights, at the funeral ceremonies the 
souls of slain enemies are ordered by the 
warriors who killed them to accompany, 
guide, and care for the deceased. These ser- 
vants light the fires and prepare the camps 
at night. It was for use on the trip to the 
Otherworld, and not for service in that land, 
that weapons and utensils were formerly 
placed in the grave. 

Just before the Land of the Departed is 
reached, a river is encountered, over which 
the only passage is by means of a slippery 




INDIAN NOTES 



RELIGION 


45 


log. A huge dog guards this bridge, and 
he never permits evildoers, nor those who 
have maltreated dogs or wolves in life, to 
cross. Even if an evil soul is allowed to 
attempt a crossing, it is likely to be precip- 
itated into the stream and to be swept on 
eternally. If, however, a soul succeeds in 
reaching the other side, it is welcomed by 
the spirits of 'those who have gone before, 
and joins them in feasting and playing 
lacrosse forever. 

The Otherworld is ruled by Na'^'patao, or 
little Wolf, the brother of Md^ndhus, who 
was slain by the Powers Beneath. After a 
soul has been in his care for four days, he 
sends for it, washes it, and cleanses it of all 
earthly knowledge. It is then endowed 
with heavenly lore, and becomes oblivious 
of most of the facts concerning its previous 
existence on earth. 

A year after thedeath of a member of the 
Mitd'win, his relatives call a meeting of the 
society and hold a memorial ceremony at 
which prayers are addressed to Na'^'patdo, 
requesting him to release the soul of the 
deceased, that it may return to earth long 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





46 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



enough to participate in a feast of the dead. 
A person of the same age and sex as the 
departed is selected to wear the latter's best 
suit of clothes, preserved for this occasion 
by the mourners, and to impersonate the 
returned soul. After the feast the imper- 
sonator is faced to the west, and the soul 
is dismissed to return to the realm of 
Na'^patdo. Often as an alternative a large 
public ceremony is held (pi. i-iii) , at which 
the impersonator is initiated into the society 
to take the place of the dead member. 

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 

Tribal Opigin ]\Iyth 

According to the tribal origin myth, in 
the mystical past the Great Underground 
Bear and its mate came out of the earth 
near the mouth of the INIenominee river, 
and there assumed human guise, becoming 
the tribal ancestors. Later the,v were 
joined by metamorphosed Thunderers, the 
beaver, black bear, crane, wolf, bald eagle, 
and others. As the eagle assisted the bear, 
and a wave the Wolf, the Bear-Eagle and 
Wolf-Wave people became partners, and 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




CARRYING THE DRUM FROM THE MEDICINE LODGE TO THE 
GRAVE OF CHIEF NI'OPIT OSHKOSH 




_l X 

CQ W 

^ <=> 

CO I 

CD CO 

< o 

>- \- 



ORGANIZATION 


47 


were the ancestors of two groups of linked 
gentes, the members of which address each 
other, in each case, as ''nito'tdm.'' Al- 
though it is thus apparent that the member 
of each gens are supposedly descended from 
metamorphosed animals, in ordinary prac- 
tice the Indians regard actual animals as 
having been their forefathers. Thus they 
are related to modern representatives of 
these animals, and, in consequence, I have 
heard, for example, an Indian of the Bear 
gens address a living bear as "brother." 

Gextes and Phratkies 

The phratries of the jMenomini with their 
remembered gentes are seven. The first 
gens eni>merated in each phratry is the 
leader of that group and gives it its name. 
They are: 

fl. Great Ancestral Bear, Seka'tcokemau 
I \2. Snapping Turtle, i/?"^a'«a 
[3. Porcupine, Kitd'mi"' 

fl. Big Sand (name of a mythical bear), 
II 1 Ketcina'kau 

12. Black Bear, iwa'^e \ ,. , , . 
[3. Bald Eagle; P/;m'./"i linked gentes 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





48 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




in ]3. Fox, Wa"ko 
\4. Dog, And'm 
[5. Deer, ApW'sos 

y,. /I. Beaver, Noma' 
^^ \2. Muskrat, OstVs 

Y fl. Crane, Kivuta'tcia 

\2. Shagpoke, Wapikisu'nien 

VI 1. Elk, Oma'skos 

{\. Thunderbird, Ina'mald'^ 

VII \ 2. War or Golden Eagle, Kine'u 

[3. Crow or Raven, Ka'kaki'^ 

Each of these phratnes and its subordi- 
nate gentes possesses a number of gentile 
names, both male and female, based on some 
real or supposed characteristic of the an- 
cestor of the leading gens, which are be- 
stowed as honorary titles on members of 
their appropriate group, and which must be 
kept constantly in use. The phratries have 
likewise their pecuHar rites and functions, 
but these have largely, if not entirely, fallen 
in desuetude. There are no gens or phratry 
properties, such as sacred bundles, nor has 
any gens or phratry any ceremon}^ appro- 




INDIAN NOTES 



THUNDER GENS NAMES 



49 



priate only to itself. There are traces of an 
ancient dual division of the phratries into 
the moieties according to the position of the 
gens and phratry ancestors in the upper or 
the nether worlds, but this seems to have 
been unimportant and purely ceremonial. 

THUNDER GENS NAMES 

These names, hitherto unrecorded, are 
supposed to be the titles of the Thunder- 
birds themselves, by which they are known 
among the gods. They are used by mortal 
Indians as personal names in the Thunderer 
gens. There are, no doubt, more of these 
titles, but they are forgotten or have fallen 
into disuse. As given in this Hst they are 
supposed to follow the order of importance, 
and appearance, of their celestial owners. 
The writer has placed an asterisk before 
each name borne by an Indian of his 
acquaintance. As noted above, similar 
names were apparently once found in all the 
gentes. 

*^Iudje'kiwis, The eldest brother and leader. 
Perhaps derived from the Ojibwa, and 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



50 



M E N O AI I N I CULTURE 



meaning 'Bad or Evil Wind.' Not only 
used as a clan name, but as the ordinal 
name of the eldest son, or, in its feminine 
form, of the eldest daughter in every fam- 
ily. Often used colloquially to mean the 
firstborn, or the heir, especially in myth- 
ology and folklore. 

Ma"nuseo, 'The Leader,' or 'The Greatest.' 
Some Indian authorities place this Thun- 
derer before the preceding, but this has no 
foundation in lore nor usage. 

*Wi'skino, 'Bird.' When he appears the rain 
freezes. 

*Wabinima'ki", 'White Thunderbird.' 

Sawinama'ki^, 'Red Thunderbird.' 

*Kishkinama'kiu, 'Moderator' (Thunderbird), 
also known as 'One-half a Thunderer,' and 
'Finishes Suddenly.' He comes in black 
clouds, and the weather then clears. 

*Ko"naha', 'Cyclone.' 

Keska'na'kahum, 'The Tree Breaker.' Snaps 
off the tree-trunks half-way up. 

IMosa'na'se, 'Terrible or Destructive One.' 
Also called 'IMan-Thunder,' because he is 
often seen in anthropomorphic form. 

We'se'ka'peo, 'The Firm-seated One.' Always 
looks on while the others storm. Should 
he ever leave his place and join them, he 
would destroy the world. 

*Wakajona'pe, 'Crooked Beak.' 

*Kewutawa'peo, 'Rolling Eyes.' Generally 
translated, 'Look Around.' 

Ina'makiu, 'Thunderbird.' 

*Awa'nuhapeo, 'One Seated in Fog.' 

Muko'mias, 'Inventor of Hail.' 



INDIAN NOTES 



G \' E R X :^I E N T 



'^Pepakiji'se, 'Little Pot-belly.' Used not only 
as a Thunderer gens name, but as a nick- 
name applied to the youngest son in every 
family, regardless of gens. 

GOVERXMEXT 

The office of tribal chief was hereditary in 
the principal family of the Great ^Mythical 
Bear gens, the members of which are the 
traditional lineal descendants of the Great 
Bear himself. The head man in each gentile 
group or phratry had likewise to be a mem- 
ber of the principal gens of his group. 
Phratry councils, gens councils, and tribal 
councils were held to decide important 
questions. The duties of all chiefs were 
purely civil, the war power being vested 
in the owners of the war-bundles, who were 
dependent on their personal dream revela- 
tions for office, and whose authority was 
limited by their reputation and personality. 
A civil chief was not debarred from being a 
bundle-owner, and hence a war-leader, 
should he receive the proper revelations. 
The war-leaders, together with all men of 
notable bravery, whose exploits had won 
them fame, were required to police the 



51 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



52 


:\IENOMINI CULTURE 




camp. An hereditary officer in one of the 
Bear gentes was their commander. He 
wore a special badge of authority, and had 
charge of the peace-pipe, by virtue of which 
he prevented blood vengeance in cases of 
intertribal murder, causing the aggrieved 
parties to withhold their wrath until the 
case could be formally tried, and the mur- 
derer, if adjudged guilty, bought off or 
executed. 

The warrior police were required to 
guard the beds of wild rice from premature 
pickers when the tribe had gathered for the 
annual harvest, in much the same way that 
the Oki'tcita "soldiers" of the plains regu- 
lated the buffalo hunt. 

BlKTH AND XaMIXG CUSTOMS 

A woman approaching childbirth with- 
drew to an outhouse or a small special lodge, 
and there had her infant, for the blood which 
attended its arrival was regarded as un- 
clean, as is that lost during the menses. 
The child, almost as soon as born, was 
bound on a cradle-board, and holes were 
made in its moccasins, so that if any spirit 




INDIAN NOTES 



BIRTH AND NAMES 



should coax it to leave its parents and return 
to the Otherworld, whence it came, it would 
be obliged to refuse, on the ground that its 
shoes were too poor to undertake so long a 
journey. 

While ordinal names, derived from the 
Thunderers, are found among the T^Ieno- 
mini, each child is given a personal name, 
often by some shaman who is paid for this 
service. These names may be revealed in 
dreams, or may be titles acquired from the 
Powers Above. At a later period in life a 
youth who has done some brave deed in 
war may have his name changed by consent 
of the gens or the tribal council, and fre- 
quently receives one of the gentile names 
mentioned in a preceding section. 

Children of both sexes were alwa}^s, and 
to some extent still are, taught to fast when 
yet very young, in order to enable them to 
undergo a rather prolonged ordeal at pub- 
erty. The object of the puberty fast is to 
induce portentous dreams by starvation. 
X'isions of this nature include the blessing 
of the devotee by some god or important 
animal, with the gift of certain special per 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



53 



54 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




sonal, warlike, or supernatural privileges, 
and prophecy concerning the suppHcant's 
future. Sometimes some taboo is imposed, 
or orders issued to perform certain rites 
periodically. Evil or unpropitious dreams 
may be refused and new revelations sought, 
but the reappearance of the same vision 
four times makes it irrevocable. 

Puberty 

A girl undergoing her first menses is 
obHged to withdraw from society for ten 
days, and thereafter on each recurrence for 
several days, or as long as the period de- 
mands. For this enforced sojourn she is 
provided with a small lodge and her own 
peculiar utensils which no one else may 
touch. During such periods women are 
considered highly unclean, and hence are 
supposed to pollute, injure, and perhaps 
even destroy any person or medicine with 
which they may come in contact. 

JMarriage 

Traditionally all marriage customs were 
derived from the Great Dawn. Love 




INDIAN NOTES 



:^I A R R I A G E 



matches were formerly rare, but young men 
did a great deal of courting at night, going 
to the lodge and bed of the girl in the midst 
of her family. Usually, however, parents 
selected wives for their sons. If a young 
man proved acceptable to his prospective 
parents-in-law, presents were given them by 
his relatives, and the bride went to the 
young man's wigwam and dwelt with him. 
Her parents made gifts in return to the 
groom's relatives at the end of a year, and 
these had to be of equal or greater value 
than those they had originally received. 
Plurahty of wives was once the rule. 

Separation was by mutual consent; but 
in recent times a wife could be given away 
publicly with a blanket at the Dream Dance. 
Adultery was cause for divorce, and the 
woman was sometimes punished by the 
loss of her nose. The offending man was 
liable to death at the hands of an aggrieved 
husband. 

The "joking relationship," a formal eti- 
quette, is still maintained between brothers- 
and sisters-in-law, uncles aunts, and nieces 



55 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



56 



MENOMINl CULTURE 



and nephews. The mother-in-law taboo is 

also known. 

Games 

Menomini games are often played for the 
dual purpose of honoring the gods and of 
curing the sick, amusement being secondary 
in a number of cases. Such games are the 
perquisites of important deities, and are 
held only to gain their good graces. La- 
crosse, in particular, is the property of the 
Thunderers, and is looked upon as mimic 
warfare. A game can be called only by a 
man having a Thunderbird as his dream 
guardian, or who is supposed to be a rein- 
carnated Thunderer himself. In either case, 
such a person must give the game peri- 
odically. x\pparently, betting is not in- 
dulged in, in connection with this sport, 
but the giver must fee both sides with gifts 
of calico or other bright-colored cloth, and 
must not take part in the play himself, but 
stay at one side to offer prayers and sacri- 
fices. Shinny, played exclusively by women, 
belongs to one of the sets of sacred Sky Sis- 
ters and is performed under conditions 
similar to those of lacrosse. 



INDIAN NOTES 



G A M E S 


57 


TWO HITHERTO UNRECORDED GAMES 

A game played solely for the amusement 
of children, that they might become tired 
and more readily fall asleep, was called 
kakatcis katnmoyan. A disc was cut out 
of bark, a foot or more in diameter, and 
this the Httle ones were taught to roll before 
them, like a hoop. 

A rough game, which not infrequently 
developed into a free-for-all fight, was 
called hato'wi, or ato'wi. Two sides were 
chosen by the players; or members of some 
friendly visiting tribe, such as the Pota- 
watomi, played in opposition to the Meno- 
mini. The object of the sport was to show 
which of the contestants could best keep his 
temper. First one side and then the other 
took turns kicking each others' buttocks. 
With each kick, delivered with all the force 
which the moccasin-clad foot of the owner 
could gather, the name of the game was 
shouted aloud; in fact, whenever a crowd of 
Indians had gathered to watch or partici- 
pate in athletic sports, such as bow-shooting, 
wrestling, racing, or lacrosse, if any one 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





58 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



shouted ''Hato'wir it was customary for the 
bystanders immediately to begin to play. 

A Hst of Menomini games, all of which are 
widely diffused throughout the Central 
Algonkian and Southern Siouan tribes, fol- 
lows: 

Lacrosse Moccasin 

Snow-siiake Kicking game 

Prisoners' base Draw-sticks 

Rolling hoops Foot-racing 

Shinny Bowl-and-dice 

Ice game Cup-and-pin 

Throwmg sticks Cat's-cradle 
Racing ponies 

Sign Language 
A system of signs for blazing forest trails 
was once in vogue among the Menomini, 
but has become almost extinct. I have 
often seen them break over young saplings 
and bushes, inclining the fallen tops in the 
direction the party was taking for the bene- 
fit of an3-one coming behind. The condi- 
tion of the leaves— fresh, wilted, or dried- 
helps mark the elapse of time as well. A 
few signs are made with the hands, appar- 
ently the remnant of a once more extensive 
sign language. 



INDIAN NOTES 



SIGN LANGUAGE 


59 


Contempt: Raise right fist to the lips, fingers 
away from the jnouth, throw out first two fingers 
and bring hand downward and forward with 
celerity. This gesture may be made with im- 
punity only to joking relatives. 

AVcnishment: Right fist raised and placed 
thumb against mouth; for great surprise, the 
left fist raised in like manner, the thumb against 
the infolded little finger of the right. It must 
be understood that both thumbs are folded in. 

Horse galloping: Extend right arm horizon- 
tally with hand clenched, fingers down, rapidly 
clench and unclench fist. For several horses 
both hands are used. 

Lightning or gunshot: Back of right hand 
slapped smartly in palm of left. 

/ give it to you: Extend right hand, palm 
downward, raising palm until almost on the 
same plane as the upright body. 

There were once other signs, say the old 
people, but they are all forgotten. None of 
the above gestures is confined to the Meno- 
mini tribe in its use. 

Warfare 

Although a peace-loving tribe, the Meno- 
mini were both able and willing to resist 
invasion and even to carry the fighting into 
the enemy's country. They drove the Sauk 
and Fox from their seats on Green bay, and. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





60 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




much later, during the Blackhawk war, 
materially helped the American forces to ex- 
pel them from the territory east of the Mis- 
sissippi. They raided the Osage, and, in 
company with their allies, the Eastern or 
Santee Dakota, ventured up the JNIississippi 
to attack the Mandan. 

All Menomini warfare was conducted 
through the assistance of the war-bundles, 
the type example of which was traditionally 
given the tribe by the Thunderbirds, through 
the medium of a man named Wata'kwuna. 
The succeeding examples down to the pres- 
ent day have been granted to men and even 
to women as dream revelations. Semi- 
annual sacrifices are made to the bundles in 
the spring and the fall, when a public cere- 
mony with feasting and dancing is held (pi. 
iv). At this time the bundle-ovvners are 
masters of the rites, and are fed by attend- 
ants who place the food in their mouths with 
wooden skewers. 

When general war was declared, runners 
were sent to the various villages of the tribe, 
bearing tobacco and a string of wampum, 
painted red, to notify the bundle-owners or 




INDIAN NOTES 




> 

O 
llI i> 

cc 3 

UJ ^ 



< tc 



\\- A R F A R E 


61 


partizans to gather their warriors. When 
for this or any other reason a partizan de- 
cided to go to war, he collected his young 
men, who were volunteers desirous of ob- 
taining fame, and led them out of the vil- 
lage to a secluded spot in the forest. Here 
a long lodge of boughs was erected, the 
bundle opened, and its contents displayed. 
Sacrifices, including a dog feast, were made, 
and the war dance was performed. The 
partizan managed these affairs, but did not 
take part. 

The war-party then proceeded, with the 
partizan in advance carrying the war-bun- 
dle, or having it borne for him by his uncle 
or a nephew. Thus equipped the leader 
could neither turn back nor deviate from 
his path, unless his uncle or his nephew came 
forward, took hold of him, and forcibly 
changed his course. When scouts had lo- 
cated the enemy's camp, it was approached 
at night. Before attacking, the partizan 
again opened the war-bundle, and, with its 
contents spread out before him, sang the 
songs belonging to the bundle's ritual, to the 
accompaniment of a deer-hoof rattle, and 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





62 


AI E N M INI CULTURE 




then distributed the sacred contents of his 
pack among his followers. One, for exam- 
ple, would receive a root medicine to make 
him invulnerable, when chewed and sprayed 
over his body. Another was given a sim- 
ilar charm to secure invisibility. Another 
might accept a snake-skin to give him the 
serpent's power of stealthy approach. The 
skin of a swallow rendered the bearer as dif- 
ficult to hit as is that bird in flight; a 
miniature warclub gave another the ability 
to strike with the force of the Thunder. 
Thus fortified, the men encircled the hostile 
camp, while the partizan stayed behind 
singing to stupefy the enemy. 

The attack was commenced just before 
dawn, when vitality was supposed to be at 
its lowest ebb. Bows and arrows and war- 
clubs were used, but shields were not car- 
ried. Scalps were taken back to the parti- 
zan, who gave rewards to the successful 
warriors. The first to kill a foe received a 
wampum belt. After the attack the war- 
riors turned homeward, taking time, when 
out of reach of the enemy, to stretch the 
scalps on hoops. When the lodge of boughs 




INDIAN NOTES 



WARFARE 



63 



erected on the outward journey was reached, 
a victory dance was held, and the names of 
the victors were announced with the nature 
of their coups. 

Among the jMenomini there was no sys- 
tem of war honors. The greatest deed was 
to slay a foeman, for which feat alone was 
granted the right to wear an eagle-feather 
on the head. For this, and perhaps for 
scalping a foe, the principals were entitled 
to have their names changed by vote of 
council composed probably by the chiefs of 
the gens of the victor. Usually some gens 
name "vacant" at the time was awarded. 

Following the victory dance the warriors 
danced with the scalps attached to short 
wands, after which the nearest female rela- 
tive of each man, preferably his sister, came 
forward and made him a present "to wash 
the blood from his hands," and took the 
scalp, whooping as she received it. The 
scalps were then the property of the women, 
who ornamented and kept them as trophies. 
If a man had no female relative to receive 
his scalps, they reverted to the war-bundle 
and were kept therein until the next semi- 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



64 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




annual war-bundle feast, when each was 
given to some renowned warrior to dance 
with until his female relatives "washed his 
hands" and took it from him. Bits of 
scalps are sometimes found attached to 
charms contained in the war-bundles, and 
it is probable that the wisps of hair care- 
fully preserved in these palladia, explained 
as locks from the heads of former owners, 
are in many cases really from scalps taken 
when the bundle was used, having been 
kept as tokens of its prowess. 

SOCIETIES 

The ^NIita'win 

An idea has already been given of the 
underlying ritual of the important secret 
society known as the Mitafwin, or ]\Iedicine 
Lodge, which is composed of four graded 
degrees. Admission is by purchase, often to 
fill a vacancy caused by death, and the ini- 
tiation is the dramatization of the origin 
myth, in which the candidate plays the 
leading role. The chief feature is the pre- 
tended slaying and bringing to life of the 
candidate, which is the symbolic presenta- 




INDIAN NOTES 



M I T A' W I N 


65 


tion of the belief that all so initiated will be 
reincarnated in the Hereafter, 

In addition to the ritualistic myths of the 
society, a mass of official and unofficial lore 
is acquired from time to time by the initiate 
after he has joined the body, but always by 
purchase. This is made up of the songs 
and the formulae accompanying the herb 
medicines known to the members, and leg- 
endary data concerning the specific gifts 
of the various animals to ]\Ia"nabus at the 
time of the founding of the lodge. Inci- 
dentally, there occurs in the customs of 
the lodge one of the few traces of the old 
tribal dual division previously mentioned, 
based on the separation of the universe 
into halves. It is said that formerly mem- 
bers took their positions on one side or the 
other of the Medicine Dance structure ac- 
cording as to whether the medicine-bags 
they possessed were made of the skins of 
animals inhabiting the upper or the lower 
regions. 

ilEDICINES AND BUNDLES 

Peculiarly the property of the members 
of the Mitd'min, yet known through pur- 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





66 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



chase to many others, is a vast series of 
medicines, both magical and practical, hav- 
ing for their ingredients roots, herbs, shells, 
fossils, stones, claws of animals, and the like. 
Presumably all these had their origin in 
dream revelations, but many have been 
handed down from one member of the 
society to another from time immemorial, 
and, except as gifts of "our grandmother, 
the Earth," or of various gods and animals, 
through the Great Dawn, their origin is 
forgotten. Medicines and their sacred 
formulas, for none are valuable without 
their particular songs and prayers, can be 
obtained only by purchase from their own- 
ers, but as anyone may buy them, they are 
known, though in lesser degree, beyond the 
limits of membership in the Mild' win. 
Their number has been, and constantly is, 
augmented by accessions from other tribes. 
The gathering of roots and herbs for 
medicinal use is always attended by placing 
tobacco in the holes from which they were 
dug, with a song or a prayer in honor of 
Earth Grandmother, whose hairs they are. 
Besides the actual curing of disease, there 



INDIAN NOTES 



M I T A' W I N 



are medicines for all manner of purposes, a 
very incomplete list of which may be given 
here to show their diversity. 

There are at least eighteen different love 
medicines, or charms for gaining the affec- 
tions of a member of the opposite sex than 
that of the user; medicine for keeping mar- 
ried couples faithful; for driving enemies 
insane; for winning at gambling, racing, etc. 
A famous good-luck medicine is caUed 
nkemd'was, which attracts friendship, over- 
powers enemies, and brings food, wealth, 
and gifts to the house; witch medicines of 
many kinds for destroying foes; medicines to 
thwart sorcerers; for taking game and fish; 
to guard against snake-bite; and to insure 
the bearer against injury from the missiles 
of medicine-bags shot by unknown foes. 

Like these medicines, the various sacred 
bundles are sometimes transferred by pur- 
chase, but so far as the writer is aware, 
this is seldom done. All sacred bundles 
were originally the fruit of the owner's 
dream revelation, and could never be 
passed on to other hands with a complete 
making-over of the power of the first 



67 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



68 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




dreamer, even though the buyer had also 
had a bundle dream; for each vision was 
charged with special instructions which were 
apt to differ, and the makeup of the bundle 
was likewise variable within certain limita- 
tions. It was customary, however, for 
people who had not been successful in estab- 
lishing favorable contact with the gods to 
go to a bundle-owner and purchase the 
right to use or to carry certain of the medi- 
cines and charms contained therein. In- 
herited bundles theoretically lost some of 
their power, although instances are re- 
ported in which identical dreams were 
vouchsafed father and son. It has been 
observed that this theoretical loss of power 
credited to the bundles is seldom admitted 
in actuality. As all bundles were acquired 
through dreams, and as dreams cannot be 
controlled successfully, there was no limit 
set by custom on the number of bundles of 
any kind to be found in the tribe; but they 
were never very numerous. They were, as 
has previously been stated, personal and 
not clan property. 




INDIAN NOTES 



D R E A M E R S- W I T C H E S 



The Dre.\mers 

Next of importance to the Mitd'win is 
the Society of the Dreamers, of which no 
more than passing mention need be made 
here, since it has been fully treated under 
the caption of Religion. It is a modern 
acquisition. 

The Witches' Society 

The behef in witchcraft is deeply rooted 
among the ]Menomini, and it is the constant 
effort of the shamans and the members of 
the Mitd'win to combat their activities. 
Witches and wizards are persons who, 
through self-mortification, such as fasting 
and sacrifices, have obtained the patronage 
of some one of the Evil Powers, in return 
for which they are obliged to slay members of 
their own tribe as votive offerings. They 
attack and destroy their victims by magi- 
cally transforming themselves into balls of 
fire, owls, bears, foxes, turkeys, and other 
animals, and traveling for great distances at 
night with remarkable speed. Arrived at 
the lodge of his prey, the sorcerer dis- 
charges enchanted arrows at him, causing 



69 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



70 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




disease, and, if the attacks are repeated, 
death. Witches are known to have magic 
bundles, the most notorious of which con- 
tain the entire hide of a bear, or the skin 
of a horned owl, which are worn when as- 
suming the shapes of these animals. With 
the skins is included a bandoleer, or shoulder 
pouch, covered with tiny bags holding bad 
medicines, the worst of which are portions 
of the body of the terrible Horned Hairy 
Snake. 

The witches are said to be associated in 
a society having eight members, four using 
the bear and four the owl, as mediums of 
murder. Their rites are said to include a 
disgusting form of cannibalism, for witches 
are supposed to haunt the graveyards where 
their victims are buried, and so magically 
to obtain the heart and lungs of the mur- 
dered persons, which they are credited 
with devouring. Witches also destroy their 
victims by shooting and stabbing rude 
effigies of them made on the ground or on 
birch-bark, or by torturing dolls of grass or 
wood. They also steal the luck away from 
hunters, sending their arrows or bullets 




INDIAN NOTES 



WA'BANO-JE"SAKO 



71 



astray; they cause children to drown; and 
practise other nefarious arts. 

The Wa'baxo Cult 

This is a group of unattached shamans 
who resemble the Dakotan Heyoka in some 
of their practices, especially with regard to 
immunity from fire and boihng water, 
though they do not use "backward speech.'' 
They are prophets, and derive their skill from 
the Morning Star {Wa'hano, or Wa'panana), 
or even from the Sun. 



The Je"sako Cult 

Like the Wa'bano, the Je"sako form a 
cult by themselves, but are not associated 
or united. They are diviners and doctors, 
and in the curing of the sick commence 
their work by erecting a small, cyhndrical, 
bark lodge, where they commune with the 
spirits. The lodge sways from side to 
side, the wind blows, and voices are heard 
speaking to the seer, who rephes through 
the medium of the turtle, who acts as inter- 
preter. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



72 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




The cause of the patient's illness, invari- 
ably witchcraft, since disease is unnatural, 
is made clear to the Je"sako. Sometimes 
he coaxes the soul of a moribund patient, 
thought to be already well started on the 
journey to the Land of the Dead, to return 
and enter a small wooden cylinder where it 
is imprisoned and delivered to its relatives. 
These attach the cylinder to the patient's 
breast for four days, so that the soul may 
return to his body. 

Sometimes the gods inform the Je"sako 
that his client is aflQicted by a sorcerer's 
arrow in the flesh, which he proceeds to 
extract by sucking through a bone tube. 
He vomits forth the arrow, displays it to 
the onlookers, and announces that the cure 
is made. A sorcerer's arrow when thus 
brought to light will be found to be a maggot, 
a fly, a quill, or some other small object. 
Of course, the doctor is well paid for his 
diagnosis and cure. 

Mita'wape and Te'pape 

These are two minor cults similar to the 
preceding, differing only in having lesser 




INDIAN NOTES 



OTHER CULTS 


73 


powers. They are more numerous than the 
Je"sakowilk, and derive their strength from 
dreams of the Great Dawn. There is still 
another class of like physicians called Tcipi- 
nini, who derive their power from Na'^patdo, 
brother of the Great Dawn and Lord of the 
Realm of the Dead. 

Thunder Cult 

A cult of those who have dreamed of the 
Thunderers was once organized to worship 
the Thunderbirds through the medium of a 
large drum, but as the drum was cracked 
during a thunderstorm, the cult was aban- 
doned. 

Buffalo Dance Cult 

Twice a year, in spring and fall, those who 
had dreamed of the bison gave a perfor- 
mance in which the principal participants 
wore buffalo head-dresses, and imitated this 
animal. A long tent, Kke that used in the 
Medicine Dance, was erected, and a row 
of wooden bowls filled with vegetal foods 
appropriate to the patron of the rite was 
placed down the center. Round these the 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





74 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



performers danced, pawing, bellowing, and 
eating or drinking without touching their 
hands to the vessels. At the conclusion 
the dishes were overturned by each wath 
his head, when a portion of tobacco was 
found hidden beneath the bowls. This cere- 
mony in honor of the buffalo' was often 
given in order to secure the aid of these 
beasts in healing the sick. The buffalo are 
credited with great knowledge of herbs and 
mystic curative powers. 

List of Ceremonies 

Including the ceremonies and dances al- 
ready described, the following rites have 
been noted, many now obsolete being 
marked with an asterisk. 

1. Medicine Dance and attendant cere- 

monies. 

2. Dream Dance. 

3. War Dance.* 

4. Victory Dance.* 

5. Scalp Dance.* 

6. Semiannual War-Bundle Dance.* 

' 7. Youth's First Game Dance, or, more prop- 
erly, Feast.* 

8. Harvest or Crop Dance.* 

9. All Animals' Dance, in honor of the to- 

temic ancestors.* 



INDIAN NOTES 



CEREMONIES 



75 



10. Rain Dance, given to the war-bundles in 

time of drouth. 

11. Dog or Beggar's Dance,* given in the 

sugar camps in early spring. The 
dancers wore birch-bark masks, and 
brave deeds were recited. 

12. Tobacco Dance, perhaps a degenerate 

form of the Calumet of Southern 
Siouan tribes.* 
13= Shawano Dance. Said to have been 
derived from the Shawnee, and perhaps 
connected with certain Mitd'uin rites 
for the dead, for during this dance 
Xa'^^patdo is besought to allow the 
spirit of the dead man in whose honor 
the dance is given to return to earth 
and participate. 

14. Circular Dance. A dance performed by 

the braves, who count their coups and 
reenact them.* 

15. Woman's Dance. A social dance recently 

introduced by the Winnebago, and sel- 
dom performed. 

Bear Ceremonies 

The ]\Ienomini had certain ceremonies 
which they performed when a bear was 
slain. A deerskin was offered to the Sun 
and a feast was given. The bear's skull was 
prepared and cleaned, and was later hung 
up in the woods. The bones of the animal 
were kept away from the dogs. ^Members of 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



76 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 


- 


the Bear totem, at least, always apologized 
to a bear before slaying it. 

^lYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE 

The mythology of the Menomini has been 
described at length in an earher portion of 
this paper, and therefore needs little con- 
sideration here. A large body of folklore 
has been collected by Hoffman and the 
writer: it is typically Central Algonkianin 
character, but bears strong resemblance to 
the Ojibwa of the north. Its affiliations 
cannot be more definitely placed until 
more is known of the other Central tribes, 
especially those of Siouan origin. 

While the subject is too extensive for de- 
tailed treatment it may be noted that the 
Menomini themselves divide their folklore 
and mythology into four classes: 

First, the cosmogonic myth and the myths 
concerning the founding of the M ltd' win. 
These are regarded as highly sacred and 
secret, and in the case of the Mitd'win 
myths, which deal with the Culture Hero- 
God, are the exclusive property of the mem- 




INDIAN NOTES 



.AI Y T H L G Y 


77 


bers of the society, and can be obtained by 
new members only at a high price. 

Next come the stories of the Culture Hero 
as Trickster. These are but tales of buf- 
foonery and lust, and are not at all in keep- 
ing with the character of the Hero as brought 
out in the preceding group. They are 
extravaganzas without sacred meaning. 
Their separation in the native category is 
added reason for supposing that these 
form part of a cycle the hero of which was 
the real Great Hare, and a personage dis- 
tinct from the primal Hero-God with whom 
he has been confounded by reason of names 
of similar sound. The trickster stories are 
much more widely diffused than are the 
sacred myths among other tribes. 

The third class is composed of weird and 
marvelous yarns dealing with the exploits 
of heroes and wizards, super-animals, can- 
nibals, living skulls, and animated forces. 
Alagic is their keynote. These correspond 
with our fairy tales, and show the Algonki- 
ans to have a lively and colorful imagination, 
not inferior to that of Celtic story-tellers. 

Lastly is a group called by the Indians 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





78 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




"true stories," a designation which is by no 
means accurate, since they overlap with 
those of the preceding category. These are 
principally brief narrations of love, war, 
ghosts, adventure, witchcraft, and super- 
natural experiences. 

A fifth class, not recognized by the na- 
tives, may be added. It is possible to seg- 
regate a small group of stories of European 
derivation by reason of certain entirely for- 
eign properties and motives. The influ- 
ence of these on the rest of the groups has 
been negligible. 

FUNERAL CUSTOMS 

When a death occurs, the corpse of the de- 
ceased is arrayed in its finery, its face 
painted, and the guests assembled for the 
wake. This now lasts two days and two 
nights, but is said to have ended formerly 
the same day at sunset. The first evening 
the presiding oflficers enter the house and 
sing the death-songs to the swish of the 
gourd-rattle, and this is repeated the fol- 
lowing night. The next day the corpse is 
redressed in its second-best clothes and 




INDIAN NOTES 



M O R T U A R Y 



is laid out in state in the lodge, with calico, 
tobacco, and other gifts, which are placed 
near its head. After certain rites the body 
is carried out of doors through a hole 
made in the rear of the wigwam or through 
a window, if the funeral is being held in a 
house. This is done in order to confuse the 
ghost, so that it cannot follow the party 
which carries the corpse to the grave. 
When the funeral procession reaches the 
cemetery, the body is laid on the ground, 
and a feast of the dead, at which all the 
food must be consumed, is held. At the 
end of this rite a ceremonial smoke is given 
for the deceased, and the body is placed 
beside the grave. The chief mourner now 
comes forward with a package composed 
of a new suit of clothes, in the center of 
which is placed a lock of hair cut from the 
dead person by one of the attendants. 
This bundle is carried home and kept in 
the house for at least a year after the ob- 
sequies. The bundle receives offerings of 
food and tobacco from time to time, and is 
spoken of as if it were the deceased, still 
ahve. 



79 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



80 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




The body having been lowered m the 
grave, the next of kin steps over it and runs 
home by a roundabout way, so that the 
ghost may not follow. Formerly a quan- 
tity of food, utensils, and weapons were 
placed in the grave for the use of the soul 
on the journey to the Otherworld, but this 
is no longer done. The grave is now filled 
and a short stake is erected at the head. 
Warriors are called on to count their coups 
and to appoint the souls of foes whom they 
have slain, and over which they are sup- 
posed to have control, to accompany and 
assist the soul of the deceased to the Other- 
world. These men now step forward and 
recite their exploits. For each coup counted, 
and at least four are necessary, an attend- 
ant marks a horizontal line or an X on the 
grave-post with vermilion. A stick with 
four bunches of shavings fringing it at inter- 
vals is also prepared. The totem anirnal of 
the departed is painted on the post, in- 
verted, or with head down, to show that it 
is dead. Somewhat later a long, low house 
of boards with a ridged roof is erected over 
the grave with a little door at one end to 




INDIAN NOTES 



:\I O R T U A R Y 



permit the ghost, which is supposed to 
hnger about the cemetery, to leave and 
enter. 

For members of the Mita'wln a ceremony 
is held one year later, often at the grave, 
when the soul of the dead person is called 
back to earth and feasted, and then released 
to return and live forever in the Hereafter. 
In the rites as performed at the cemetery 
the Medicine Dance structure is erected at 
the spot (pi. i) in reverse orientation from 
that usually employed, and the soul of the 
deceased, temporarily reincarnated in a new 
candidate for membership in the society, 
is conducted to the grave at the end of the 
ceremony, faced to the west, and dismissed 
to return alone to the Reahn of Xa'-^patao. 
After certain other rites (pi. iii) the com- 
pany returns to the lodge with rejoicing 
and promiscuous shooting with their medi- 
cine-bags. 

^loURNING 

Immediately after a death the mourners 
blacken their faces, put on old clothes, and 
allow their hair, to hang disheveled. They 



81 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



82 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




lacerate the fleshy parts of their bodies with 
flints. In former times a widow or a wid- 
ower was required to mourn for four years. 
A man was unclean for the space of a year 
and could not handle weapons or medicines. 
A widow's mourning was ended by her hus- 
band's relatives, to whom she brought pres- 
ents. They combed her hair and told her 
she was free. Violation of the mourning 
rules was punishable by cutting off the nose, 
the same penalty as was exacted for adul- 
tery. 




INDIAN NOTES 



II. HOUSING 

ORIGIX OF THE IMENOMIXI TYPES 
\Ar I^EN FIRST encountered b}^ the 
\2_^ French, the JMenomini Indians 
^1 resided on the west shore of 
Green bay, Lake ^Michigan, from 
the mouth of the IMenominee river south- 
ward to the mouth of the Fox. This early 
country is low-lying and damp, for the 
greater part, except for the elevated sand 
dunes which border the shores of Green bay. 
The upland through which the rivers flow 
is also dry and sandy, and on the shifting 
dunes the Indians pitched their wigwams. 
The traces of their prehistoric and, later, 
historic settlements, may still be observed 
at Big and Little Suamico, Pensaukee, and 
on the Oconto, Peshtigo, and Menominee, 
in particular. These sites have been 
described in detail by Fox, Schumacher, 
and Younger, of the Wisconsin Archeolog- 
ical Societv.3 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



84 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




The Green bay shore, where some of the 
oldest Indians now Hving were born and 
spent the early years of their lives, was the 
summer home of the greater portion of the 
tribe. When winter winds began to blow, 
they temporarily abandoned their fisheries, 
ceased their quasi-maritime life, and with- 
drew inland up the various streams. Here 
they found shelter from the bitter blasts in 
the forests and the protected river bottoms. 
Some scattered families even penetrated to 
the upper waters of the Wolf on the present 
reservation, and may have been the makers 
of the mounds and pits still to be seen there. 
When the breaking of the ice in the spring 
freed the rivers for travel, they abandoned 
hunting and trapping to paddle down to 
the coast once more. 

Owing to the diversity of their country 
and of its living conditions, the INIenomini 
had at their disposal a variety of materials 
adaptable for shelter, and it is therefore not 
surprising that a number of types of houses 
were developed by the tribe. Two, how- 
ever, were in ordinary daily service, and 
these were, and indeed to a certain extent 




INDIAN NOTES 



WINTER LODGE 



85 



are, the quadrangular house of bark for 
summer, and the semi-globular or dome- 
shaped lodge for winter use. Both types 
'are familiar to students as forms found 
widely diffused among the Algonkian tribes 
of forested North America. 

The Winter Lodge 
The semi-globular house, covered with 
mats or with bark, was the more widely 
distributed form of the two, and may be 
considered as the Algonkian lodge ^7;- 
excellence. It has been noted among the 
tribes of New England, at least among 
those of Massachusetts and of Connecti- 
cut, for the Abenaki and others to the 
north seem to have preferred the conical 
type. The round or semi-globular wig- 
wam was utilized by the tribes of Long 
Island and coastal New York, but not by 
the Iroquois. It was in vogue among the 
Delawares, and aU the Central Algonkians, 
and was common among many tribes as 
far south as the borders of the ]\Iuskho- 
gean or Gulf culture. On the north it is 
still to be seen, occasionallv, at least 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



86 


M E N M INI CULTURE 




among the Ojibwa and the Eastern Cree, 
even on the shores of Hudson bay. North- 
ward, however, as one approaches the 
Arctic, the conical lodge largely supplants 
this type. In all this wide sweep of terri- 
tory variations appear principally in 
ground-plan (that of the southern reaches 
inclining to be oval rather than circular), 
and in roofing material. Along the Atlan- 
tic coast, sedge-grass and cornhusks were 
used, as well as the ordinary elm- or cedar- 
bark and cattail mats. In the north birch- 
bark was favored. 

All of the Southern Slouan tribes, and 
with them may be included the Eastern or 
Santee division of the Dakota, and the 
Winnebago, were given to the use of this 
semi-globular structure, but, like the Algon- 
kians, the more southerly representatives 
of the group preferred lodges of oval outline. 

The Summer House 

The summer house of bark, with quad- 
rangular ground-plan, but varying as to the 
shape of the roof, which was either arched 
or triangular in cross-section, was almost 




INDIAN NOTES 



LONG-HOUSE 



as widely distributed as the semi-globular 
lodge, being found among the Iroquois of 
New York and Canada, as well as among 
the Algonkians. The various tribes using 
these types of lodges did not always observe 
the seasonal changes nor move from one 
form of dwelhng to the other. 

The Long-house 

The long-house, favored by the Iroquois 
and their Algonkian vassals in the East as 
a place of dwelling, survives among the 
Menoraini and other Central Algonkian 
and Southern Siouan tribes as a ceremonial 
structure devoted principally to the rites 
of the Medicine Dance, and, to a lesser 
extent, to other sacred performances. It 
too may be an ancient pan-Algonkian sur- 
vival, as it seems to have been widely dis- 
tributed among the peoples of this stock 
at the time of the first colonists. Among 
the Iroquois it is no longer used as a habita- 
tion, but the Five Nations still build their 
council and ceremonial structures in the 
shape of the long-house, and apply this 
name to them. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



87 



88 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




Among the Menomini the writer has 
seen and entered bark houses of both 
semi-globular and ridged types, and has 
even assisted in erecting one of the long 
ceremonial structures designed for the 
Medicine Dance, as recently as the spring 
and summer of 1920. Of course, log and 
frame houses are now occupied by the 
majority of the Indians, and the wigwam as 
a dwelling-place will soon be a thing of the 
past. 

CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE 
The Winter Lodge 

In building a round winter lodge or 
wigwam (pi. v) , about sixteen saplings, each 
eighteen feet in length and about one and 
one-half inches in diameter at the butt, are 
selected and cut. Four of these poles are 
set upright in the ground so as to form a 
rectangle three or four feet broad by twelve 
or fifteen feet long, the latter dimension 
being intended for the breadth of the house. 
When these "doorposts" have been erected, 
the women (for generally two at least are 
required to build a wigwam of this char- 




INDIAN NOTES* 



CONSTRUCTION 


89 


acter), bend the poles toward the center of 
the long sides of the rectangle, and lash 
them together with basswood-bark. To 
accomplish this, one of the women takes 
her pack-strap and throws it over the upper 
end of a pole and bends it down to where 
she can reach it. She then holds it fast, 
while the other pulls down the opposite 
pole. These doorposts having been con- 
nected, the other poles are set up and 
arched over them transversely, and all are 
bound together in the same way. A mat 
is laid on the floor, in the center, to mark 
the fireplace. The door usually faces the 
south, in order to catch the sunlight, and 
to be protected from wind and rain. 

When this has been done, a double roof- 
mat of cattail-flags is taken and its width 
measured around the side of the lodge, from 
the bottom of the frame upward, starting 
at the outside of one of the doorposts, and 
working around to the other. Guided by 
this gauge a horizontal ring of saplings is 
bound around the framework from door- 
post to doorpost, about three to four feet 
from the ground, corresponding to roof 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





90 


MENOMINI CULTURE 


■ 


purlins in our houses. Then the operation 
is repeated, starting above this ring and 
allowing a few inches less than the wddth 
of the mat, so that when the coverings are 
tied on, each successive mat will overlap 
the one below, and thus shed water. About 
six mats are needed for the average wigwam. 

The framework of the lodge having been 
completed, the mats are tied on the cross- 
pieces with raw basswoods tring. A rect- 
angular hole about two and one-half feet 
square is left open in the roof directly above 
the fireplace for the egress of smoke. A 
small rush mat or a piece of elm-bark is 
fastened to one side of the aperture, so that 
it can readily be drawn over the hole in 
case of rain. A mat or an old blaiiket, 
weighted at the bottom, serves as a door. 
Except for its shape, the long-lodge used to 
house the ceremonies of the Medicine 
Society is built in the same manner. 

Sometimes birch- or cedar-bark is used 
to cover a round winter lodge. The bark 
is cut in suitable sizes by reaching up the 
bole of a tree as far as possible, and girdling 
it with an axe or a hoe. Then it is again 




INDIAN NOTES 



WINTER LODGE 



91 



girdled by a serrated cut made near the 
ground, and the two cuts connected by a 
perpendicular gash. The bark is then 
pulled off in a sheet and flattened by being 
weighted down with stones until ready for 
use. Sometimes, but rarely, elm-bark, 
prepared in the same manner, is used for 
covering a lodge. 

Around the inside of the lodge, from door- 
post to doorpost, a couch or bench is built. 
Crotched stakes are driven into the ground 
at intervals, two or more feet out from the 
wall, and other poles are laid in the crotches, 
which are two to two and one-half feet 
above the floor, to form an inner circle. 
Over these is laid a coarse grill of smaller 
sticks, and this in turn is covered with 
boughs of balsam or of other evergreens. 
On these is placed bedding composed of 
blankets or bearskins. The inner wall is 
often lined with reed mats woven in various 
esthetic designs and gaily colored. 

Miscellaneous objects are stored under 
the wall-couch, or are hung from poles 
suspended overhead on wooden hooks. 
Shelves are often built above the couches, 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



92 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




stakes to support them being erected from 
the floor. 

The fire is built in the center of the wig- 
wam, under the smoke-hole. An upright 
frame of two crotched poles, a yard or less 
high, supporting a third horizontal bar, is 
constructed on which to swing the kettle 
over the fire, or a tripod of poles serves the 
same purpose. 

The place of honor is in the rear of the 
lodge, behind the fire and opposite the 
door. This is the place accorded to guests. 
The family medicine-bundles or other 
sacred objects, if kept in the house, are 
stored here near the sleeping place of the 
master of the lodge, or are hung from the 
ceiling above his head. Special outhouses 
are not built by the Menomini to contain 
these treasures, but almost always the man 
of the family has a sacred pole, ten to twenty 
feet high, close by, usually in front of the 
wig\vam. Surmounting this pole is a rude 
flag, or a representation of some object of 
importance to the owner, such as his dream- 
guardian, or a symbol referring to it, carved 
in wood. These poles are frequently 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 










/ 

DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE SQUARE HOUSE 

rr^f'rh^"^' TH^I "^^^^''1 '^P^'^^'S^' *• Connecting poles fastened in the 
ri£^TL t' ^'""^'^'^ "P"-,hts supporting ridgepole; d. Rafters lashed froni 
wofKor wall'"""' "^ ^ '' '' ««"^°"t^l P^^^ forming lintel; /, Fram^ 



S U M .AI E R H O U S E 93 



painted red, and sometimes on festal occa- 
sions are hung with feathers or other 
objects of adornment. From time to time 
when the weather is fair, the sacred bundles 
are hung on them to air, but a shorter, 
special post may be used for this purpose 
(pi. XI). 

A small, dome-shaped lodge, scarcely 
large enough to accommodate one person, 
is erected not far from each house. Such 
lodges are used exclusively by women dur- 
ing their menses, when it is taboo for them 
to enter the wigwam or to touch any of the 
cooking utensils, weapons, or especially 
the medicines belonging to the family. 
Men who have any particular charms or 
supernatural powers are held to be in 
danger of death if they so much as come 
in contact with a woman at this time, and 
even ordinary warriors are liable to grave 
disaster. 

The Summer House of Bark 

The quadrangular summer house of bark 
with ridged roof is built as follows: Poles 
are cut and peeled, and four upright 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



04 



MENO:^IINI CULTURE 



crotched saplings arc sot in the corners of a 
rectangle about fifteen to twenty-five feet 
long, by ten to twelve feet broad, as shown 
in pi. VI. d. Next, four horizontal connect- 
ing poles are laid in, or fastened close 
to, the crotches (b). A short, crotched 
upright is lashed at its butt to the center 
of each cross-beam at each end of the franie- 
work, its apex being from seven to eight 
feet from the ground. The ridge-pole is 
then laid longitudinally in the crotches, 
and tied fast with basswood-bark. Not 
infrequently the forked upright at the rear 
is run into the ground, since there is no 
door at this end to be allowed for (c). 
Next, poles to serve as rafters {d) are 
lashed from the ridgepole to the longitu- 
dinal side beams. A pole bound hori- 
zontally across the front of the frame, at a 
height of about four or five I'eet, forms 
a lintel {c). Along the four sides, vertical 
poles are then set up, extending from the 
ground to the upper longitudinal beams, 
and securely tied in place. At inters'als of 
about a yard apart, horizontal poles are 
bound to these from end to end (j''. 



INDIAN NOTES 



1 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




INTERIOR OF SO'MAN JIM'S BARK HOUSE 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




SECOND VIEW OF INTERIOR OF SO'MAN JIM'S HOUSE 



S U M M E R HOUSE 



The whole structure is next covered with 
overlapping sheets of elm- or cedar-bark, 
except for an opening about a 3'ard long by 
two -feet broad left in the apex of the roof 
for the escape of smoke. Here a movable 
sheet of bark is attached, to be drawn over 
the hole in case of rain. The coverings of 
the lodge are rectangular pieces of bark 
about three by six feet, flattened, seasoned, 
and perforated at the corners for attach- 
ment to the framework with basswood 
strings. They are placed along the sides 
of the building with the grain of the bark 
running horizontally, but on the roof with 
the grain running vertically, as the bark 
grows on the tree. Each piece is tied to the 
frame in such a way that the lashing is 
protected by the overlapping of the suc- 
ceeding piece, and the under edge of each 
is deeply serrated, as noted in describing 
the process of peeling it from the tree. 
This is perhaps done to prevent spHtting. 
Sometimes logs are tied down over the roof- 
ing to keep the bark from warping or from 
blowing away (pi. vii). 

Both types of lodge are rain-proof, but 



95 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



96 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




the quadrangular form is too open and airy 
for comfort in winter. The round lodge, 
however, is comfortably warm in the cold- 
est weather. In pis. viii and ix ma,y be 
seen interior views of one of the best-made 
bark houses it has ever been the writer's 
privilege to enter, that of So'man (Grape) 
Jim, or "Wild Jim Crow," in the hard- 
wood forest west of Neopit, Wisconsin, on 
the Menomini reservation. The details of 
the construction of the sleeping platforms, 
the cracks in the bark, and the camp imped- 
imenta of reed mats, sphnt baskets, the 
baby's cradle-board and the like, are 
visible. The exterior of the same building 
is shown in pi. vii and x. 

So'man Jim was a Wa'hano by profession, 
and did not belong to either the Mitawin 
or the "Dream Dance." He lived in seclu- 
sion, and was almost as uncompromisingly 
distant to other Indians as he was to the 
whites. These pictures were therefore 
secured by stealth. He died a few years 
ago when away from home at Neopit, and 
having no ties with the fraternal secret 
order of the Mifa'wiii, which is scrupulous 




INDIAN NOTES 



S U M M E R HOUSE 


97 


about conducting the funeral services of 
the cult for the dead, he was deposited 
without ceremony in an unhallowed grave 
adjoining the local Christian cemetery, 
where a beer bottle marked the spot when 
last seen by the writer in 1920. His bark 
lodge, robbed mysteriously of his sacred 
bundles and medicines, has fallen to pieces. 
Another good house of this t3^pe, in the 
same region, was owned by the father of 
Kime'wun Oke'mas, whose portrait will be 
found in the section devoted to Menomini 
dress (pi. xvi). This lodge was also aban- 
doned on the death of its owner, but he 
being a member of the Mitd'wiii, as well 
as of the Wa'bano and the Je^sako, was 
properly cared for after his demise. In 
the shelter of this building, the writer, 
guided by the dead man's son, one of the 
few Menomini converts to the "Peyote 
religion," found the war-bundle and the 
Je"sako outfit of the former owner, and 
purchased them for this Museum. Out- 
side, close to the wall, stood a wooden 
statue, nearly lifesize, of the war god Wa'- 


^ 


A N D MONOGRAPHS 


■ 



98 


MENOMINI CULTURE 


' 


bano (Morning Star) in human guise, which 
also became a part of our collection. 

In pi. X is shown another view of So'man 
Jim's lodge and outbuilding or arbor, and 
his garden of native beans and squashes. 
The cornfield is farther away. PI. xi shows 
a stake outside the lodge whereon are 
exposed to the revivifying rays of the sun 
his war-bundle, gourd-rattles, eagle-feather 
fan, and Wa'hano drum. 

A couch is built in the quadrangular 
house, Hke that already described in the 
semi-globular lodge. It is two feet high, 
by the same breadth, or thereabouts, run- 
ning all along the interior of the walls, and 
is covered with cedar-bark, and, if avail- 
able, with boughs of balsam and with skins. 
The usual poles are suspended from the 
rafters on which to hang various objects. 
The fireplace is built in the center of the 
floor under the smoke-hole. There are no 
windows, the smoke-hole and the fire serv- 
ing to light the interior. A mat or an old 
blanket usually forms the door, but some- 
times a piece of bark is substituted. 

Sun-shades or arbors of boughs or of 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



b 




SO'MAN JIM'S WAR-BUNDLES HUNG ON THE SACRED POLE 



LONG-HOUSE 



bark (pi. x) like those in use by the other 
Central Algonkian and Southern Siouan 
tribes, were often set up in front of the 
lodge, and cooking was sometimes done 
under similar shelters; The conical tipis 
now occasionally seen among the iMenomini 
are very recent imitations of Plains types. 
Small temporary summer sun-shades or 
lodges, as described by Hoffman, were for- 
merly made; they were either ridged or 
semi-cylindrical in shape, covered with 
bark or with mats, and barely large enough 
to shelter one man. Little, low-ridged huts 
of planks are set up over graves (pi. i, m) 
to accommodate the spirits of the dead. 

The Loxg-house 

In olden times, bark houses are said to 
have been made much longer and larger 
than they are now, to serve as communal 
dwelhngs. It is still remembered that 
where two families lived in the same wig- 
wam, there was a door at each end. No 
partitions were made, but the house was 
divided by imaginary boundaries into four 
quarters or sections, and it was considered 



99 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



100 


M E X M I X I CULTURE 




bad taste to overstep these limits, although 
it was no such breach of etiquette as 
among some of the northern bands of the 
Ojibwa that have been visited by the 
writer. The long-house (pi. xii) now sur- 
vives only as a ceremonial structure, used 
for the rites of the ^ledicine Dance in par- 
ticular. It is rectangular in ground-plan, 
and about fifty or sixty feet long by ten to 
fifteen feet wide; it has an arched roof 
about eight feet high. The frame (pi. 
xiii) is made of peeled poles arched over 
hke those in an ordinary round wigwam. 
This frame is kept standing permanently, 
and boughs, mats, or, as is more common 
nowadays, canvas coverings, are brought to 
roof the structure when it is to be used. 

The Fireplace 

Every lodge has its fireplace. ^\hen 
indoors, it is always placed in the center of 
the wig^vam. directly under the smoke 
aperture in the roof. In order to prevent 
flying sparks from setting fire to the house, 
an ever-present danger when the roofing 
of bark or of mats is dry. a round, basin- 




IXDIAX XOTES 



I- I R E P L A C E 



like pit is often dug in the floor to contain 
the fire. These holes, as observed by the 
writer, are about two and one-half to three 
feet in diameter, and six inches to a foot in 
depth. Sometimes stones are placed in 
them to act as supports for kettles. In 
some cases the fireplace is built up above 
the surface of the ground with small bowl- 
ders. This is more commonly done v.-hen 
the fire is made outside, in warm weather, 
or when the camp is a temporary one. 
When thus built outside the wig^-am the 
fire was often placed under a small shelter 
or arbor to protect its users from the 
weather. In lodges in which no fireplace 
is dug, the reader should understand that 
the fire is made on the bare earth, with the 
occasional addition of several good-sized 
stones as supports for kettles. Both the 
raised and the sunken types of fireplace, 
often filled with ashes, bones, and broken 
or discarded utensils, are common on 
archeological sites all over eastern United 
States, and are found in many of the ancient 
JVIenomini villages. But it should be noted 
that the remains of deep pits which dot 



lOi 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



102 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




their old encampments are more likely to 
prove to be caches for wild rice or corn, or 
holes dug to bury offensive rubbish. 

Kettles are 
generally 
swung by a 
wooden pot- 
hook (fig. 1) 
f r o m a 

wooden cross-bar elevated 
over the fire by means of 
two crotched uprights, about 
a yard in height. The pot- 
hook here shown is 9 s in. 
long. 

Grills for smoking fish and 
drying meat formerly were 
made as follows: Four 
crotched sticks, a little over fig. l— Wooden 

1, . .,. pot-hook. (Ex- 

a yard long, were set upright treme length, 91 
in the ground to form the 
corners of a square or an oblong, in the 
center of which was the fireplace. The 
four corner posts were connected by bars on 
each side, and across these bars were laid 




INDIAN NOTES 




if 



X ^ 




o2 

PS 



< s 

2^ 



CONSTRUCTION 



N 



lengthwise a number of short poles or 
sticks, on which, in turn, were placed a 
series of lighter cross-pieces. 

FUHIHEE Details of Coxsteuction 
Some further details concerning the use 
and construction of native houses bv the 
iienommi may be of interest. All dwell 
mgs are generaUy constructed by member^ 
Of one family, their relatively small size 
making it unnecessary to call for assistance- 
'" ';''' "''"'"y lodges can be built by one 
or two persons. In the case of the long 
house used for ceremonies, more help fs 
required, and it is customary for rSny 

Indians to gather and hold a "building bee" 
In building a round house for winler or 

n\rdT:";hf''r^^'"°^^^'^«''^-«"- 

neeaea, as the roof was so low that the 
hands. In the square habitation for sum 

pieces hrst. to serve as a scaffold. 

waIapolird''T"7'-'"'^ "^^<^ f°^ '-hing 
«as applied when freshly stripped from the 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



103 



104 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




tree. In drying, this hardened and shrank, 
somewhat as the rawhide used by the 
Prairie tribes does, making a firm grip. 

For the durability of native lodges no 
data are available. The framework lasts 
many years with occasional partial renewals. 
It was customary to leave this skeleton 
standing until the time when the house 
might be needed again, perhaps the follow- 
ing year. In the forest country it was not 
necessary to transport poles, as new ones 
could be obtained almost anywhere it 
might be decided to set up a temporary 
camp. Winter lodges could thus be razed 
or erected in a very short time; indeed the 
writer has seen Indian women set up such 
a house in half an hour, not allowing for 
the time required to select and cut the 
poles. At most, two or three hours is the 
limit . under unfavorable conditions. As 
for the summer houses, I have never seen 
one erected, but as these were more per- 
manent structures than the round winter 
type, in the sense that they stood all the 
year round and were inhabited periodically, 
more time, perhaps a day or two, was 




INDIAN NOTES 



SITE OF HOUSE 


105 


required in their construction. When the 
Indians departed from their summer camps, 
these quadrangular structures were left 
intact, because the bark was too bulky to 
carry, and more could easily be obtained, 
should they decide not to return. But the 
cattail mats used for winter lodges, valuable 
on account of the large amount of labor put 
into their manufacture, and the relative 
scarcity of reeds in the dense parts of the 
pine forests, were stored in a dry place when 
not in use. 

Situation of the House 

In former times the jNIenomini did not 
live scattered in the forest, often miles 
from one another, as they do now. In those 
days the danger of attack by lurking foes 
from other tribes made concentration 
imperative, and large villages were fre- 
quent. This is borne out by conditions 
noted at their ancient sites on Green bay. 
Tradition and archeological evidence both 
show that the lodges were pitched close 
together, but without formal order. This 
irregular grouping seems to have been 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





106 


AIENOMINI CULTURE 




usual among the forest tribes, in contra- 
distinction to those of the prairie, who 
took pains to form their camps in great 
circles, wherein the several bands often 
had their fixed quarters. However, the 
Menomini elders claim that the members 
of each of the gentes were similarly segre- 
gated in their ancient villages. 

Wigwams were not erected near trees 
that might fall and crush them, nor where 
heavy branches, torn off in a storm, might 
break in the roof. No toilet facilities were 
provided in the villages, the privacy of the 
encircling forest sufficing. It was often 
necessary to move a village when the fire- 
wood in the vicinity had been consumed. 

Nowadays the IMenomini are less careful 
in the situation of their houses than for- 
merly. In olden times a warm, sunny 
knoll, preferably of sand, was chosen. 
Even at present an effort is made to locate 
the house on dry, high ground. Now as 
then, drinking water, preferably an ever- 
flowing spring, must be close at hand. 




INDIAN NOTES 



HOUSE TERMS 



107 



Vocabulary 

Wakl'nikon, round, or semi-globular winter lodge. 

upa'^^khiika'n, round, or semi-globular winter 
lodge made of cattail mats (u'paHiuk); 
hence its popular name, a'pa^'kl, literally, 
'a cattail.' 

andkaki'kumik, square, summer lodge of bark. 

kesauniikakiku'mik, cedar-bark lodge. 

iinepioiukd, elm-bark lodge. 

wiko' pane andkl'kumik, basswood-bark lodge. 

U'i'kisikamik, birch-bark lodge. 

miuseku'ka'ii'd wi'kiivam, young hemlock-bark 
house. 

asekani'kamik, prairie-grass lodge. 

pokana's ui'konuk, sedge-grass house. 

akum'^'icon, temporar}' shelter of mats hung over 
a cross-bar, and pegged out on the sides. 

sdta'k'id'komik, a lodge of cedar- or spruce- 
boughs, so thickly thatched that they shed 
water. 

apasinikomik, a round lodge built of logs. A 
temporary structure used for camps. 

kino'''tam, a long lodge, shaped like a medicine- 
dance structure, with an arched or rounded 
roof. Formerly used as a communal resi- 
dence. 

li'a'nekan, or wanekiltd'o, semi-subterranean house 
dug into a hillside. 

asepd'wi'kiom, a rock house. ]\Iy informants 
explained this term by stating that in for- 
mer years, before they were confined to 
their present reservation, they sometimes 
lived or camped under, overhanging ledges, 
or in the mouths of caves where it was light 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



108 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



and airy. In other words, they used rock- 
shelters. 

me'tik fkdmik, wooden house, log cabin. 

iskwu''^tcmiiposi, doorpost. 

upa'siiik, lodge posts. 

pimela'pase, a sapling used as a withe or ring 
around the frame of a winter lodge. 

ana'kianuk, beams or joists, in a log cabin. 

nawiskii'tiu, or pota'wagun, fireplace. 

ta'nahu'an, a couch built around the inner wall 
of the wigwam. 

anago'iiu, the place of honor in the rear of the 
lodge opposite the door, always reserved 
for the master of the house and for distin- 
guished guests. 

tasipina'giin, a_ meat-drying scaffold made of 
bark and tied to its supporting posts with 
basswood-bark strings. 

akotcewa'han,.a. platform in or outside the lodge, 
used to receive such loads, borne into camp 
on the backs of the Indians, as were not 
allowed to touch the ground for ceremonial 
or sanitary reasons. Also for drying pur- 
poses. 

piyatakanatik, a post outside the lodge to which 
tobacco sacrifices are attached and sacred 
articles are tied to sun. 

mlta'mu oska pasamawikomik, or mitd'mn oku^dk 
ospo'towat ('woman out-doors fire-making,' 
or 'at fire'), two names for the small hut 
to which women withdraw during their 
menses. 
pita'u'ikon, sweat-lodge. 
mo'nahigan, garden. 



INDIAN NOTES 




« s 

uJ Q E 

2 < < 

< Ld o 

Z CO -a 

o = 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




OTTER-FUR FILLET MADE OF THE ENTIRE SKIN 

Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



III. DRESS 



A T THE present time the ^Menomini 
-«V no longer wear native dress 
habitually, but preserve these 
costumes for ceremonial or gala 
use. Moreover, cloth has been accessible 
to them for so many years that information 
concerning the leath^ garments which they 
formerly used is difficult to obtain, although 
some of the elder Indians still remember 
when clothing of deerskin was commonly 
worn. 

MEXj'S ATTIRE 

Head-dresses 

Three general types of men's head-dresses 
have been observed by the writer; these 
are head-bands of fur, sashes woven of 
yarn used as turbans, and the dyed deer's 
hair roach. 

Of the first class the most valued variety 
is a fillet of dark otter-fur. Xot onlv does 



109 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



110 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



it present a handsome appearance, but the 
connection of the otter with the sacred rites 
and original myth of the Medicine Dance 
society, and its own supposed supernatural 
powers, influence the natives in their pref- 
erence. If the wearer be a warrior these 
fillets are often ornamented, as is shown in 
pi. XIV, with rosettes or medallions of beads, 
and eagle-plumes. Or, if he be a member 
of the Medicine Dance, bunches of dyed, 
split, hawk-feathers containing charms are 
set vertically on one side of the head-dress. 
Sometimes, indeed, the whole skin of an 
otter is used (pis. xv, xvi, xxx), the head 
being bent around and thrust in the vent, 
the tail forming a flapping ornament on 
one side. The bare under-surface of the 
tail is often further enhanced by decora- 
tions in appKque of ribbon or of beads. 
This type of head-dress is by no means 
common as compared with the fillet first 
described. 

The fillet form is sometimes decorated 
with the tail of the otter sewed on the rear 
as a pendant, or with streamers of. twisted 
fur at side and back. In addition to otter^ 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




MEN IN DANCE COSTUMES. WEARING FUR TURBANS 



SKINNER MENOMINI CULTURE 







JOE MOON IN CEREMONIAL COSTUME 



HEAD-DRESSES 



111 



skin, other furs are sometimes used, but 
generally for some special purpose. Fillets 
of wolf-skin are found in several of the 
more important hunting-bundles. These 
are donned for the purpose of giving the 
wearer the tireless persistency and keen 
tracking powers of that animal. Head- 
bands of shagg}' buffalo-skin were formerly 
worn to battle, the wearer feeling secure in 
the possession of a bison's strength and 
courage. For the Buffalo Dance, like head- 
gear was donned, and the leader of that 
important rite wore a cap made of the 
major portion ofvthe skin of a buffalo's head 
with horns attached. 

A common form of head-covering is a 
yam sash or belt twisted around the brow, 
with the addition of the customary feather 
ornaments. 

The roach or crest made of dyed deer's 
hair (pi. xvm), or sometimes of the coarse 
tufts from the neck of a turkey or the back 
of a porcupine', is worn,, though sparingly, 
among the :VIenomini. According to their 
ideas, it lacks the dignity of the otter-fur 
band. The roach is attached to the back 



AXD M 0X0 GRAPHS 



112 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




Fig. 2.— Roach spreadeis of antler. (Height »f a, S^o in.) 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 



INDIAN NOTES 



SHIRTS 



of the head by drawing the scalp-lock 
through a hole made in the broad part of 
its base for this purpose. A little wooden 
peg thrust crosswise through the hair 
above the hole prevents it from slipping off. 
A carved spreader of bone or of antler 
(fig. 2), or a similar object made of engraved 
German silver, is used to expand the hair of 
the roach, and sometimes supports an 
eagle-feather by means of an attached bone 
tube used as a swivel. The roaches are 
usually kept rolled on a stick in a carved 
wooden box, when not in use. The roach 
spreaders here figured are in the American 
Museum of Natural History, and measure 
respectively 8A in. and 7ii in. in height. 

Shirts 

:^Ien's shirts were formerly made of 
tanned deerskin, often dyed brown with 
butternut juice. They were gailv orna- 
mented with the colored quiUs of the por- 
cupine, or sometimes those used in war had 
an image of the sun painted on the back. 
None of these garments have survived, 
although the costume worn by the famous 



11, 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



114 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



chief Oshkosh is said to have remained in 
the possession of some of his relatives until 
stolen by an acquisitive white antiquarian. 
At the present time the cheap calico shirt 
of the traders is used, often with the addi- 
tion of beaded epaulets, and beaded strips 
on front and back. Ruffles and bright 
ribbons are added to suit the wearer's 
taste. 

Leggings 

The ancient style of man's leg-gear was 
the deerskin legging. Two pairs of these 
were obtained for this Museum, one from 
the late Ke'so.a'pomesao (pi. xix, a), the 
other from Charlie Dutchman (pi. xix, h). 
The tailoring of both these pairs is very 
simple^ A tanned doeskin, trimmed into a 
rectangular piece, was taken and folded 
down the center lengthwise of the skin. 
The open edges were then sewed together, 
beginning with a narrow margin at the 
top, or hip, and gradually increasing this 
until the ankle was reached. Here the 
residual edges formed flaps five- or six inches 
wide. One of these flaps was afterward slit 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




ROACH OF DEER'S HAIR 



SKINNER^MENOMINI CULTURE 




ANCIENT DEERSKIN LEGGINGS 



LEGGINGS 



fine for a fringe, the longest strands being 
at the bottom; the other was notched or 
serrated. The sewing shown in pi. xix, b, 
is not done in a continuous seam, but is 
knotted at two-and-one-half inch interval 
with deerskin thongs, the long ends serving 
as streamers. Both pairs of leggings are 
made with the outer surface of the skin 
which once bore the hair turned in, a pecu- 
liarity which has escaped the writer's atten- 
tion if extant elsewhere. 

In pi. XX is shown another ]\Ienomini 
legging, one of a pair made in a manner 
similar to the preceding, but with a more 
elaborate fringe of much greater length, 
and ornamented with paint, beadwork 
danglers, colored yarn, and tassels. This 
pair, in general appearance, closely re- 
sembles the ordinary form found widely 
distributed among the Central Algonkians, 
Shawnee, Delawares, and Winnebago. 

A very beautiful style of ceremonial 
leggings, used in the long ago, but not now 
seen, was made of deerskin and decorated 
with longitudinal strips of otter-fur. 

The oldest type of cloth leggings is like 



115 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



116 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



those exhibited in pi. xxi, a, h. These are 
made of broadcloth worked with flower 
designs in beads. They resemble the skin 
leggings, but have no fringe. The most 
recent form of cloth leggings lacks the 
beadwork, but possesses a border of colored 
silk ribbons, sewed on without much care. 
These leggings all differ from the trousers of 
Caucasians in that they are two separate 
garments, intended to incase the legs and 
thighs, a breech-clout sufficing in lieu of a 
seat. The thighs are thus left partially 
bare, even in the coldest weather. 

Breech-cloths 

The breech-clouts observed and collected 
by the writer have usually been plain strips 
of dark blue or black broadcloth, about 
two feet broad by four feet long, with vari- 
colored silk ribbons sewed along the sides 
and the ends. Some, however, have had 
floral designs in colored beads similar to 
those shown on the leggings figured in pL 
XXI. The garment was made to pass 
between the legs and over the belt, thus 
leaving a flapping apron before and behind. 



INDIAN NOTES 



^AI O C C A S I N S 



117 



on which the embroidery was displayed 
fpl. Lxxviii, a). 

^loCCASIXS 

I :\renomini moccasins are of three types. 
The first form is a traditional variety of 
which no examples were secured. This is 
said to have been a plain shoe made of a 
smgle piece of deerskin, puckered to a seam 
runnmg over the toe. 

The second type, considered to be the 
tribal style by the natives, has a broad 
vamp set in over the instep, to which the 
upper puckers on all sides (pi. xxn) \ 
small fringed tag is inserted at the heel, to 
aid m drawing off the moccasin, and tying- 
thongs are attached to the ankle-flap in 
front. In some cases the ankle-flap is 
abbreviated, doubled over, and sewed fast 
leaving a seam at the top through which a 
draw-strmg may be run to tie around the 
ankle. 

The third kind of moccasin resembles 
that commonly found among the Ojibwa 
and the Cree at the. present time, and is 
attributed by the Menomini to an Ojibwa 



AXD MONOGRAPHS 



118 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



origin. In it a seam extends over the toe 
to the upper part, where a small oval vamp 
is inserted. This form shows the same 
methods of lacing as the preceding. 

Hoffman^ states that the Menomini 
sole their moccasins with rawhide, or par- 
fleche, but this must be a slip of the pen on 
the part of this usually accurate observer, 
for Hke all the tribes east of the IMississippi, 
the northern forested country of Hudson 
bay, and the Mackenzie, the Menomini use 
only one-piece shoes of soft, tanned leather, 
and always have, so far as their memories 
and traditions show. In this matter Hoff- 
man's own illustrations contradict his text. 
A superstition is attached to the wear- 
ing of long tie-strings in winter. It is 
beheved that in doing this the wearer is 
trying to prolong the cold weather. 

Beaded Ornaments 

No modern male costume is complete 
without various ornaments in the shape of 
woven beadwork. Pounds and pounds of 
strung beads are worn about the neck, 
although this style is more commonly 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




p;, . LEATHER LEGGING. ELABORATELY FRINGED 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. XXI, A 




BEADED BROADCLOTH LEGGING 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



^^^i^smsi^. ,- -. ,..-.....„^^fe.*^. 




BEADED BROADCLOTH LEGGING 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



5KINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




TRIBAL STYLE OF MOCCASIN 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



R X A M E N T S 


119 


found among members of the gentler 
sex. ]Many men wear woven belts as 
shoulder scarfs. A number of woven 
bead garters, tied together by the fringes, 
are sometimes donned in the same manner. 
Bead belts are also worn about the waist, 
and garters, which have no other function 
than ornament, are tied outside the leggings 
below the knee (pi. xxiii, lxiii). There 
can be no doubt that all this woven 
beadwork is but a survival of an ancient 
woven quill technic, still to be found on 
rare old pieces preserved in medicine- 
bundles or on medicine-bags. The art is 
more fully dealt with on pages 252-266. 

In addition to these articles, bandoleer 
bags, or shoulder pouches, of woven beads 
are worn usually in pairs, one on each side 
(pi. xxiii). The solidly embroidered bags 
often seen among the Menomini are not 
made by them, but come by trade or as 
gifts from the Ojibwa. The ]\Ienomini 
and the Winnebago in particular always 
weave their bandoleers; and sometimes 
baldrics of this type, in which the bag has 
degenerated into a small flap, are seen. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





120 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Yarn sashes vie with beaded belts in 
popularity, though they are now less com- 
mon than when the writer's first observa- 
tions were made. They are worn about the 
waist, the shoulders, and even twisted 
around the head as turbans. Garters were 
likewise woven of yarn, but are now exceed- 
ingly rare. This woven yarn technic, so 
say the elders, is a survival of the days 
when buffalo-wool yarn was available. 
Articles made of the skin or hair of the 
buffalo were never plentiful with this 
tribe, however, and Catlin says that even 
in his day the Menomini were too far re- 
moved from the buffalo to have robes, and 
so used blankets instead.^ 

Tobacco-pouches 

Men formerly wore around their necks 
tobacco-pouches of the skins of small 
animals, or of yarn woven with beaded 
designs. This custom, and the articles 
themselves, will be found more fully 
described elsewhere in this paper (see 
pages 365-367. 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINl CULTURE 



'\l 




GROUP OF MEN IN COSTUME. SHOWING WOVEN BEAD 
ORNAMENTS 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




EAGLE-FEATHER DANCE-BUSTLE 



D A X C E-B U S T L E- 



An Eagle-feather Daxce-bustle 

In the ceremonies of the Dream Dance 
Society an ornamented eagle-feather bustle, 
or "belt," as the Menomini call it, is worn.' 
PL XXR' shows an example of these regalia 
used only by officers during the greater 
part of the Dream Dance rites. It will be 
noted that the specimen closely resembles 
the so-called "crow" belt of the Plains 
tribes. The article is of heavy leather, to 
which are attached two elaborately deco- 
rated plumes, the shafts of which are beau- 
tified by the addition of thin, narrow, 
wooden strips, wound in alternate bands 
with colored silk thread. The tips of the 
plumes, and the bases as well, bear tufts of 
colored down, and small brass hawk-bells 
depend at intervals. Below the belt hangs 
a forked strip of cloth, to which handsome 
eagle-feathers, adorned with down, ribbons, 
decorated strips, and sleigh- and hawk-bells 
are attached. A flap of feathers showing 
between the forked part of the strip is 
enriched by the addition of a sohdly beaded 
disc bearing a "whirlwind" (?) design. 



121 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



122 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




The officer who wears this belt also 
carries iii his hand. a wand of authority. 
This is a short, slender stick, crooked 
slightly at the end, and wound with strings 
of beads of different shades in such manner 
that spirals of color alternate on it. 

wo:men's attire 

Head-deess 

The typical Central Algonkian woman's 
head-dress, consisting of a beaded binder 
of cloth with swinging pendants of woven 
beads, is rare among the Menomini. An 
example is shown in pi. xxv; the modes of 
wearing it in pi. xxvi and xxvii. It is 
told that the ancient forerunner of this 
adornment was composed of a rectangular 
piece of leather, about ten inches by six, 
soft-tanned, upon which designs w^re 
quilled at the tw^o ends, in small rectangular 
spaces, leaving the center blank, as is now 
the case with the cloth and bead specimens. 
The woman's hair was braided and doubled 
up, tied in a "club," and the leather 
wrapped about it in cylindrical form. 
Around the center strings were bound, to 




INDIAN NOTES 



H E A D-D R E S S 



123 



which were attached long, narrow stream- 
ers, woven of colored quills, which almost 
touched the ground. It will be seen that 
this is precisely similar to the modern form, 
except for the materials used. 

iModern "pagan" Menomini women 
frequently wear the hair in a simple braid 
in which colored ribbons are often inter- 




FiG. 3.— Back comb of German silver. (Height, If in.) 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural Historj'. 



twined. They also use huge back combs of 
engraved German silver (fig. 3), of native 
make. Formerly these combs were made 
of wood, and, though corroborating data 
are lacking, perhaps of bone and of antler. 
The one here figured is in the American 
^Museum of Natural History, and measures 
8i in. in diameter. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



124 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




Costume 
The women's costume is composed of a 
shawl of broadcloth ornamented along the 
borders with broad bands of silk ribbon in 
conventional floral or other designs, in 
various colors, handsomely appHqued by 
cross-stitchings; a silk or calico waist, and 
a skirt. This latter article is made of a 
single square piece of broadcloth, red, 
black, or dark blue in color, decorated in 
the same way as the shawl or robe, on the 
lower and the side borders. The skirt is 
lapped around the waist, covering the legs 
to midway below the knee, and is held in 
place by a sash of woven yarn, over which 
the upper, plain edge of the skirt falls out- 
ward. The edges of the skirt come together 
at one side, and are open all the way to the 
waist, but are usually pinned or tacked 
together to prevent a sudden gust of wind 
from exposing the limbs, as shown in pi. 
xxviii-xxx. The old people say that in 
early days the skirt was a square piece of 
tanned deerskin instead of cloth, gaily 
ornamented with colored porcupine-quills 
along the sides in lieu of silk applique. 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




BEADED HAIR BINDER, WITH PENDANTS 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




SAUK AND FOX GIRL IN COSTUME. SHOWING MODE OF 
WEARING HEAD-DRESS. SIDE VIEW 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




SAUK AND FOX GIRL IN COSTUME. SHOWING MODE OF 
WEARING HEAD-DRESS, REAR VIEW 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. XXVIII 







^^i^S 



WOMAN IN COSTUME. SHOWING DRAPERY OF SHAWL 



LEGGINGS 



Leggings 
Women's leggings (pi. xxxi) are short, 
reaching only from the anlde to the knee, 
where they are bound at their upper 
border, just below the joint, with string 
garters of non-ornamental character. The 
•lower part of the legging, which is exposed 
between ankle and skirt, is often prettily 
beaded, or silk ribbon-work extends all 
along the side and lower borders. 

In ancient times the leggings were made 
of tanned, dark-dyed deerskin, with beau- 
tiful quill embroidery in colors, or even 
bands of woven quillwork. JMoccasins 
were similar to those worn by men. 

Waists 
Little information concerning the ancient 
type of upper garment worn by women 
could be obtained. Some old' Indians 
think it was a sleeveless poncho-hke shirt, 
with a hole left at the top for the head. A 
doeskin was folded over, and sewed together 
along the sides, leaving openings at the 
upper corners for the arms. This, they 
say, might have been attractively fringed 



125 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



126 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



along sides and bottom. Whether the tail, 
legs, and neck of the hide were trimmed 
off, sHt for fringe, or left as dangling orna- 
ments, none could recall. Some thought 
that no upper garment was used at all, 
s.ave a skin, or rather a fur robe. 

Nowadays, a tight-fitting waist of silk or 
of caHco cut in ''Winnebago" style (pi. 
xx\^iii) and covered with a profusion of 
native-made brooches of metal, or a much 
beruffled waist of "Potawatomi" style 
(pi. xxxii), is used. It is noteworthy that 
both varieties bear names ascribing them 
to foreign sources. 

Necklaces and Belts 

Short, narrow, bead necklaces, beauti- 
fully woven on the bias or obliquely (pi. 
XXXIII, a, c), are still to be seen on :Meno- 
mini women, although they are rapidly 
becoming things of the past. The older 
examples are sometimes woven on horse- 
hair. Cowrie shells strung together, and 
long, white glass beads (imitation wampum 
of the "Dutch" variety) are also worn in 
great quantities around the neck; a modern 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




WOMAN 



IN COSTUME. SHOWING SLIT SKIRT 



KNIVES 



substitute, it is said, for wampum. Bead 
belts. are worn, though rarely, around the 
waist and across the shoulders. 

ARTICLES OF CO.AniOX USE 

-' Knives were constantly carried by both 
sexes. The woman wore hers at her belt 
in a plain, leather sheath, or, in modern 
times, in one studded with brass tacks 
(pi. XXXR-, a). It was a small, keen knife, 
useful around the lodge, as well as for 
defense, and its domestic nature was fur- 
ther evidenced in many cases by the addi- 
tion of an awl-case tied to its side. The 
man's knife, which was more of a fighting 
and scalping weapon, was kept in a leather 
sheath beautifully ornamented with dyed 
porcupine-quills, suspended from the neck 
b\' a short cord, and swung in front over 
the chest, where it could be seized on the 
instant. These fighting knives figure in 
.Menomini traditional history. The writer 
has seen chipped stone blades, now regarded 
as charms, worn around the neck by the 
Osage, which he beheves mark a survival 
of this custom among the Siouan people. 



127 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



128 



M EN O MINI CULTURE 




Nowadays; wars having ceased among 

the Wisconsin Indians, the Menomini 

wears his hunting-knife at his side; the 

sheath being made of plain leather like that 

of the woman, or of the 

skin of a deer's foot 

with the hoofs attached 

(pi. XXXIV, b). 

Both men and women 
usually disport earrings, 
though this is not uni- 
versal. They never 
seem to wear more than 
a single pair. INlen also 
wear necklaces, a primi- 
tive one of bear's claws 
being illustrated in 
fig. 4. 

Bracelets of silver and 
FIG. 4.- Necklace of German silver cunningly 

bear's daws. (Length, wrought by native 

^^'"■^ smiths are abundant. 

A typical series of these is shown in fig. 5 ; 
d is an example on which has been etched 
a rattlesnake, as a fetish against disease and 
witches; c is formed to represent a strap 



INDIAN NOTES 



BRACELETS 



129 




Fig. 5.— Silver bracelets. (Height of rf. If 



in.) 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



130 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



and buckle. Both bracelets and wrist- or 
arm-bands are as commonly worn by men 
as by women. 

PERSONAL ADORNMENT 
iSIoDES OF Wearing the Hair 
Like their hereditary enemies, the Sauk 
and Fox, Menomini warriors formerly 
roached their hair, but for warlike pur- 
poses only. The hairs were extracted one 
by one with tweezers probably made from 
the valves of a fresh-water clam. The 
roach, composed of the standing hair which 
remained, was as broad as the palm of the 
hand in front, but narrower toward the 
back of the head. A long lock was culti- 
vated at the center of the crown. Some- 
times the hair was worn long in a number 
of braids; again, and more commonly, it 
was allowed to flow free. By some it was 
bobbed at the shoulders, but in any case 
the scalp-lock was retained. This is still 
the practice among the more conservative 
Indians. Fig. 6 is a reproduction of a 
photograph of Kime'wun Oke'mas (Rain 
Young Chief) showing his scalp-lock coiled 



INDIAN NOTES 



SCALP-LOCKS 



on his crown, although he has otherwise 

long snice adopted the white man's hair-cut 

The men still eradicate their beards and 

mustaches by pulling out each hair with 




Fig. 6.-Modified hair-cut. showing scalp-lock. 

tweezers made of a coil of spring wire, and 
women rid themselves of their pubic hairs 
in the same manner. 



AXD MONOGRAPHS 



131 



132 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



Facial Painting 

The Menomini still paint the face for 
religious and gala occasions. The cere- 
monial paintings are sometimes, but not 
always, significant. For the various degrees 
of the Mitd'win there are special markings, 
which are described in another paper. ^ In 
the Dream Dance the writer once saw an 
old man who had the upper half of his face 
colored yellow with ocher, with small blue 
spots on his cheeks; others had four hori- 
zontal stripes of red and black, or yellow 
and black one and one-half inches wide, 
under each eye; others again had red 
daubed on the cheek. It is customary for 
the members of one of the contendmg sides 
in lacrosse to put a red mark on one cheek, 
or on the forehead, to distinguish them- 
selves from their opponents. Women are 
apt to place a small, round spot of red on 
each cheek, and to paint the parting of 
the hair the same color. In mourning, men 
and women blacken the entire face with 
charcoal. 

The color red symbolizes happiness. 



INDIAN NOTES 



; 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




WOMAN'S LEGGING. BEADED AND APPLIQUED 




_l ° 

> B 



2^ 

5 c 



PAINTING 



hence its frequent use. Blue and green, for 
the :\Ienomhn do not distinguish between 
the two, are sacred paints of holy sky color. 
The writer could not learn that the ]\Ieno- 
mini ever painted their bodies, and, indeed 
this was not necessary, for they have for 
many generations dressed fully, even for 
war. Whether the custom of covering the 
entire body with clothing is ancient may 
weU be doubted, yet not only this tribe but 
the neighboring Ojibwa bands at least, 
count it shameful to appear at any sort of 
ceremony with the body exposed. This is 
not at all true of the Sauk and Fox, even 
today, and it may be strongly suspected 
that the Winnebago have no aversion to 
the nude. 

Tattooing 

Today, at least, the lAIenomini do not 
tattoo themselves for ornament but only 
for curative purposes. Persons suffering 
from chronic headache, for example, often 
have some local herb-doctor tattoo the 
fi^re of a Thunderbird over the seat of 
afHiction. 



133 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



134 


M E N :yi I N I CULTURE 




In the summer of 1911, James Black- 
cloud, a man well along in years, sold the 
writer a tattooing outfit with complete 
instructions as to its use. The parapher- 
nalia consists of the following articles: 

1. A small birch-bark dish intended to hold 
liquid medicines. 

2. A tattooing instrument composed of sev- 
eral needles set in a handle made of the thick, 
strong quill of some large bird, from which the 
covering had been stripped. The upper end 
had been folded over and thrust into a longi- 
tudinal slit made in its own shaft. The needles 
were fastened in a row in the distal end. In the 
hollow tube small seeds, shot, or beads, had 
been placed to cause it to rattle when used. 
Hawk-bells were attached to the upper or proxi- 
mal end. 

3. Dried bear's gall, used to fix the coloring 
pigment. 

4. A package of powdered herbs and roots. 

In using the tattooing outfit, a little of the 
bear's gall is placed in the bark dish, and 
dissolved in a quantity of lukewarm water, 
corresponding in amount to a tablespoon- 
ful. To this is added some powdered 
birch-bark charcoal as pigment, and a 
portion of the powdered roots. These last 
are called by the Indians s.kunk-root. 




INDIAN NOTES 




^ n ^ 



[ \ 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. XXXIV 



a 




KNIFE SHEATHS 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



TATTOOING 



deer's-ear root (an aquatic plant), red-top 
root, black root, and yellow root. The 
compound is applied in a thick paste over 
the seat of pain, and the figure desired is 
pricked in through the paste. The latter 
is then bandaged over the wound caused by 
the pricking of the needles, and is allowed 
to remain for four days. 

The tattooing needles are said to have 
been given to mankind by the Thunder- 
birds, and represent their spears or hght- 
ning. No songs nor prayers accompanied 
the packet of utensils, but the user was 
admonished to think steadfastly of the 
Thunderers while at work. 

Mutilation of the Body 

:\Iany have the ears pierced for earrings, 
which are used by both sexes. Generally 
only a single pair is worn, but I have seen 
one old man who had many perforations in 
each ear. For further discussion of this 
subject, the reader is referred to the section 
following. 



135 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



136 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Toilet Articles 

A Menomini toilet set, collected by Dr 
S. A. Barrett of the Public Museum of the 
City of Milwaukee, is shown in pi. xxxv. 
It consists of a mirror with a battered 
homemade wooden handle, to which are 
attached four streamers of fur. Among 
these pendants is a coil of spring wire, used 
as tweezers to eradicate facial hair. Before 
the arrival of the whites, the two attached 
valves of a clam-shell served the same pur- 
pose. The first tiny bag shown on the left 
is a cosmetic holder, fUled with vermilion. 
Concealed by the decorated top of deerskin 
is the bag proper, a Httle leather affair 
shaped like a tiny leg and foot cased in a 
moccasin with embroidered ankle-flaps. 
The paint-brush, figured above it, is carved 
from the tip of a buck's antler not yet out 
of the velvet, for the distal end still retains 
a few downy hairs left on to form the brush. 
The other little leather bags contain differ- 
ent pigments indispensable for the toilet 
of a warrior. The woven-bead bag for- 
merly held tweezers. 



INDIAN NOTES 



TOILET SETS 



Another toilet 
set is shown in fig. 
7. This is interest- 
ing because the 
back of the home- 
made mirror con- 
tains a small cavity 
which has been 
used as a mortar 
for grinding blue 
paint. Other paint 
and medicine mor- 
tars are made from 
the tanned skins 
of gray and fox 
squirrels, with the 
hairs removed but 
the tails retained. 
The skins serve 
also as an envelope 
for the set. Such 
sets are used espe- 
cially in the rites of 
the Mitd'win, and 
are often to be 



AND MONOGRAPHS 




138 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



found among the articles contained in 

medicine-bags. 
None of the above toilet articles seems 

to be peculiar to the Menomini, for similar 

trinkets have 
been observ- 
ed among all 
the adjacent 
tribes. The 
two little 
woven - bead 
tweezer- bags 
shown in fig. 
7 seem to be 
unique, how- 
ever. The 
conventional 
fi g u r e s on 
them are 
meant to 

Fig. 8. — Comb-case carved from the represent the 
antler oi a moose, obverse. (Height, 7 1 

in.) Courtesy of the American Museum WOOd - duCK, 

of Natural History. , , 

the most 
ornamental of American fowl, and therefore 
an appropriate decoration. 

In figs. 8 and 9 are seen the obverse and 




INDIAN NOTES 



C M B-C A S E 



the reverse of an ancient comb-case carved 

from the antler of a moose. The work is 

very crude, and it is even possible that it 

was done 

with- stone 

tools. Some 

of the figures 

incised on its 

surface are 

said to be 

turtles, the 

totem of its 

maker. A 

porcupine's 

tail, or rather 
a portion of 
one, is at- 
tached as a 
comb -clean- 
er, a com- 
mon custom. 
It is thought 
that such tails were once used as hair- 
brushes. The specimen here figured is in 
the American :\Iuseum of Natural History; 
in height it measures 7f in. 




139 



Fig. 9.— Comb-case carved from the 
antler of a moose, reverse. Courtesy of 
the American Museum of Natural 
History. 



AND AIONO GRAPHS 



140 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Vocabulary 

men's garments 

Wawiepi'mm, deer-hair roach. 

miki'k pa"sakip, otter-fur head-band. 

anu'ki or apd"sos o'kum pipake'wian, leather or 

deerskin shirt. 
a' Stan, breech-clout. 
miti'san, leggings. 
via'kasinfin, moccasins. 

ma'kasiniin megisekwu' tawun, beaded moccasins. 
piikivu'ilta, belt. 

mtkinuiin, nejcklace. ; 
oska'sinn nd'kutdo, bear-claw necklace. 
kdki'katapian, beaded garters. 

For clothing and other objects embroid- 
ered with porcupine-quills two terms are 
used, kaiawia' kwitiknn, or 'quilled/ a com- 
mon phrase, or more properly, piniikum- 
ta'wun, 'enriched.' Leggings or moccasins 
hung with carved deer's dew-claws and hoofs 
or with metalHc tinklers, are said to be 
ndni'hdndkwutd'wun. In addition to neck- 
laces of beads, kond'pdmik or cowrie shells 
(the badge of the Mitd'win or Medicine 
Dance society), bear's claws, and birds' 
bills were formerly used 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. XXXV 




TOILET SET 
Photograph by courtesy of the Public Museum, Milwaukee 




o 

z 
z 

5 



TERMS FOR DRESS 



women's garments 

Nisa'gipun, a hair ornament, with long beaded 
trailers, rarely worn by the Menomini, but 
- common among the Sauk, Fox, and Winne- 
bago. 

pe'sakagnmve'u, waist. 

mitdna'pis or ina"pis, skirt. 

akwii'kualao ina" pis or ivapu'ucan, robe or 
blanket. 

TERilS COMMON TO BOTH 

The terms for leggings and moccasins 
are the same for both sexes. In cases 
where it is desired to particularize, the 
word ina'ni^, man, or mitd'mu, woman, is 
prefixed. 

A'sikun wmna'kun, knife-sheath. Knives are 

commonly worn by both sexes. 
petcinama'uan, tobacco-pouch. 
po"sahau, medicine-bag, also known as mite'- 

ivaian (Medicine Dance skin), and mi- 

gi'kwaian (otter-skin). 
siikak-d'uho'swmiilk, metal brooches, generally 

worn by women. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



141 



142 



f^ 



l\\ FOOD AND ITS rREPARATIOX 

WILD RICE 

Traditions of the Rice 

AIMOXG all the forest Indians, the 
Menomini. dwelling in the heart 
of the wild-rice region, became 
most intimately associated with 
the harvest and the utilization of the plant. 
According to tradition they recognized this 
fact to such an extent that they took the 
title of Ma"}ionianco Ina'uhciig, or "Wild 
Rice ^len," commonly abbreviated to 
Ma'^iiomancicuk (singular Ma"iio)na)ico) . 
derived from nui'no'ma)!, "wild rice." and 
irui'iiiwug. "men," "people/' The term 
Mciwminrd'ok ininhcok, as given by He^vitt 
in the Handbook of American Indians, is 
not of the ]\Ienomini dialect, but rather 
is a cognate phrase in some kindred Algon- 
kian tongue. 

According to ]Menomini tradition, the 
wild rice, since it springs up from under 



INDIAN NOTES 



W r L D RICE 



143 



the earth and the water, is the gift of one 
of the Underneath beings, probabh' Seka- 
tcoke'mau. The Indians believe that the 
birds on their migrations follow these beings 
and bring rice to them. They sometimes, 
though seldom, introduce the plant to new 
waters, for, Jenks to the contrary, there is 
no rule against transplanting rice.^ 

The Har\'est 

The usual harvest season is about the 
middle of September. At this time the 
Indians gather in camps on the shores of the 
lakes. They usually arrive while the rice is 
still in the milk, and spend the time until it 
ripens, in pitching their lodges and prepar- 
ing to gather the grain. The older people 
instruct the younger generation to be quiet 
and to refrain from noise or boisterous play. 
Ndnawe'taiiwiik, or police, are set to guard 
the rice, and no one is allowed to trespass 
on the fields before the appointed day. 

From time to time the poHce examine 
the rice, and when they finally decide 
that it is ripe enough for gathering they 
carry the information to the chief, who 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



144 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



instructs them to go from lodge to lodge 
crying, "Tomorrow we will commence the 
harvest." That night the chief of ^ each 
band makes a sacrifice to Sekdtcoke'mau. 
He gives a feast with prayers and a speech, 
saying, "We are going to commence to 
pick our rice tomorrow;" then turning to 
the people, "We make this offering to our 
Grandfather, the Master of Rice, who 
caused it to grow for our use. We give this 
tobacco [with these words he stops and digs 
a small hole and puts tobacco in it], as an 
offering to the Underground Powers and 
ask them to permit us to make the harvest. 
We beg for four days of good weather, and 
then we will leave the rest of the rice to the 
Thunderers for their use." Here the chief 
rises and throws tobacco into the fire (an 
unusual form of sacrifice) as an offering to 
the Thunderbirds: "May they permit us to 
pick rice for four days in the fields which 
they and the lower Gods have given us; 
then they may take their share." 

At the conclusion of the speech, tobacco is 
passed about and the old people smoke in 
honor of the gods, after which the feast is 



INDIAN NOTES 



FEAST 



eaten. This ceremony having been per- 
formed, the four days of calm weather are 
sure to follow unless someone has failed to 
fumi the conditions of respect and quiet 
which are enjoined. W^omen undergoing 
their menses and persons belonging to a 
family in which there has been a death 
within a year may not go on the rice fields, 
for such an act would offend both the Thun- 
derers and the Underneath gods. 

The morning following the feast the Indi- 
ans visit the rice-beds in their cdnoes. An 
ideal party is composed of three— a man to 
pole the boat, and two women to gather 
the rice. Owing to the oozy nature of the 
lake bottoms at the river inlets, where the 
nee grows, an ordinary pole is not feasible 
lor pushing the dugouts, and because of fhe 
matted rice-plants, paddling is likewise 
impossible. For propeUing the bateau, 
therefore, a sapling, crotched at one end. 
and ten to sixteen feet long, is used. The 
boatman, standing in the stern, shoves his 
pole down among the roots of the rice, and 
drives his craft ahead with a twisting push, 
each turn causing the forked end of the 



145 



AND :\IONOGRAPHS 



146 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Fig. 10.— 
Pulling stick 
for harvest- 
i ng rice. 



pole to grip the roots, which 
give more resistance than the 
surrounding ooze. As the boat 
is thus sent ahead at an even, 
although not very rapid rate, 
the women reach out and pull 
bunches of the rice-plant over the 
gunwales. For this purpose they 
use a stick about three and one- 
half feet long; then with a some- 
what shorter stick, grasped in 
the other hand, they knock off 
the ripe grain into the bottom of 
the canoe. Work must be done 
quickly to keep up with the speed 
at which they progress. In some 
cases the pulling-stick is made 
with a slight curve for the pur- 
pose of more readily bending the 
rice, but some are straight, in 
order, it was explained, to pene- 
trate the dense masses of the 
plant (fig. 10). The example 
figured is 30| in. long. 

After making their course 
through the rice-bed the party 



INDIAN NOTES 



H A R \' E S T 



returns and continues thus, going back and 
forth, always beating each new swathe as 
close to the last as possible, in order to 
harvest aU the gram. Great care is taken 
during the work not to offend the manitous 
who rule the water, especiaUy by wasting 
the rice, lest they should upset the canoes, 
or cause storms to rise. 

The beating of the rice-bed is continued 
until the canoe is filled, the length of time 
taken for this varying with the yield of the 
crop and the size of the bateau. When it 
is loaded the party returns to camp and the 
women at once commence shuffling the rice 
in the bottom of the boat, in order to break 
off the spiny beards. This is done with the 
hands or with the feet, and is an uncomfort- 
able, not to say dangerous, procedure, since 
the sharp spikes are apt to penetrate the 
skm and work into the flesh like the quills 
of the porcupine, causing painful wounds; 
and if one flies into the eye it almost infaUi- 
bly destroys the sight. 

AA'hen the beards have been broken off. 
the rice is packed in sacks, in blankets, and 
m birch-bark mococks. A small quantitv of 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



147 



148 


MENOMINJ CULTURE 




the rice, however, is reserved and hastily 
prepared for a feast in the following man- 
ner: The unhulled kernels are thrown into 
a dry kettle swung over a medium fire, and 
are stirred with a wooden paddle to pre- 
vent them from burning, while they roast 
or parch. The hulls crack like popcorn, 
though not so loudly, as it cooks. When 
the grains have all burst open, the rice is 
taken from the kettle and put into a pan, 
and a small hole is dug and lined with a 
cloth. Beside the hole a stake is driven 
into the ground. The rice is then poured 
in the hole and a man with clean, new moc- 
casins steps in. Grasping the stake to keep 
him in place, he dances up and down on 
the rice to thresh it. In former times he 
chanted a song as he danced, but this cus- 
tom has long since ceased. 

After the rice is threshed it has still to be 
winnowed. For this purpose it is placed 
by one of the women in a large birch-bark 
dish or tray (pi. xxxvi) and shaken up and 
down to free it from the husks. If a breeze 
is blowing it helps by carrying off the chaff. 
From time to time handfuls of refuse work 




INDIAN NOTES 



THANKSGIVING 



to the top and are picked out and thrown 
away. 

Next the rice is washed to cleanse it of 
any particles of foreign matter that have 
found their way in, and of the smoky odor 
caused by the parching. After this it is 
ready for cooking. A small quantity is 
placed in a kettle with water and boiled 
slowly, being constantly stirred to prevent 
it from burning. It takes only a few hand- 
fuls to make a meal, so greatly does the 
grain expand. The dish is seasoned with 
pork or with salt. 

As soon as the first lot of rice has been 
thus prepared for eating by each family, the 
harvesters gather about and their leader 
offers tobacco, saying: "I thank thee, O 
Rice-maker {Ono'miahdwatuk), that we have 
lived to see this season. As we must not 
partake of thy bounty without tobacco 
and a ceremony, I am doing this faithfully to 
carry out our part, to thank thee, and to 
fulfil thy wishes before we touch and taste 
the rice, in order that we may be successful 
in making a good harvest." When the 
leader has made this speech, the feast begins 



149 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



150 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




This ceremonial meal must always be eaten 
on the first day of the harvest. 

After the harvest has all been gathered, 
the bearded rice may be hulled on the spot, 
or it may be taken home as it is and pre- 
pared for use later. If there is time the 
Menomini do not use the hasty process just 
described. Instead, a scaffold or grill of 
crossed poles is built up about two and one- 
half or three feet above the ground, and 
covered with a flat grass known as upouki- 
wiYntlskwilo ("grass made to roast or dry 
wild rice"); over this a mat is laid and the 
rice is spread on it. A small, even, "flat" 
fire, without high flames, is built under the 
scaffold, and constantly watched to prevent 
the blaze or the sparks from igniting the 
covering. The rice is stirred from time to 
time to keep it from burning, and gradually 
cracks and bursts until it is done, when it is 
hulled with the hands. At this stage it 
needs flailing and winnowing before it can 
be eaten. 

Sometimes the rice is cached for future 
use by placing it in a dugout canoe and 
burying it on the sunny slope of some hill- 




INDIAN NOTES 



EARLY ACCOUNT 



side where falling rain will rapidly drain 
away and not rot the vessel nor its contents. 
Rice so cached is still fit for use at the end 
of one or even of two years. 

Interesting from an historical and com- 
parative standpoint, as showing the conser- 
vatism of this tribe, is an early account of 
the Menomini rice culture given by ^lar- 
quette, writing in 1673, as follows: 

''The first nation we came to was called the 
I'olles-Avoines, or the 7iaiion of wild oats I 
entered their river to visit them, as I had 
preached among them some years before The 
wild oats, from which they derive their name 
grow spontaneously in their country. They 
grow m marshy ground and are not unlike our 
European oats. The grain is not thicker than 
ours but It IS twice as long, and therefore it 
yields much more meal. It makes its appear- 
ance in June and does not ripen until September 
In this month the Indians go to shake the grain 
ott the ears in their canoes, which easily falls 
If It be ripe, and which afterwards serves them 
ior food._ They dry it over a fire, then pack 
It away in a kind of sack made of the skins of 
animals, and having made a hole in the ground 
they put the sacks therein, and tread upon it 
until the chaff is separated from the grain, and 
then winnow it. Afterwards thev pound it in 
a mortar to reduce it into meal; they then boil 
it in water, and season it with grease, which 
makes it very palatable." « 



151 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



152 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



\'OCABULARY 

Md"nomdn, wild rice. 

nemakoskil'tcikiVao, wild rice threshed by the 
feet. 

apu'atao, parched wild rice. 

anapa'^kwun, an underground cache (also called 
wana'kun) for wild rice. A hole dug in the 
earth about the size and shape of a barrel, 
and lined with basswood- or elm-bark. 
The rice is placed in bark-fiber bags wrapped 
in rolls of the same material (see descrip- 
tion, p. 147). Corn was cached in the 
same way, and kettles of maple syrup were 
covered and hidden likewise. 

meli'^ko'ne ata^so, a canoe filled with wild rice 
or corn and buried in a hillside for better 
drainage (see p. 150). 

WILD POTATOES AND OTHER VEGETAL 
FOODS 

Three kinds of wild "potatoes" are rec- 
ognized by the IMenomini, and all are eaten 
with gusto. They are called: 

1. Tapepin, 'straight.' This variety is washed 

and dried and boiled alone, or with corn, 
wild rice, or meat broth. 

2. Pe'koutc, or ma'tcetauopin, 'wild or Indian 

potato'; cooked like the former, but occa- 
sionally prepared with meat or preserved 
in syrup for future use. 

3. Wapise'pin, 'white potato,' used in the same 

manner as the last. 



INDIAN NOTES 



C O R X 

The following were favorite old-time 
Menomini vegetal foods: 

Seica'pemin opanskunusit, dried sweet corn 

and wild potatoes. 
Kitcekoma'sekoni7k; potatoes and hulled corn 
Ma no man p.kicoutrpaniuk kanusituo, ^xMric^ 

and potatoes. 
Pikhni'nalao, potato preserves; dried potatoes 

p aced in maple sugar. The potatoes are 

ma V thef"^''!''^' ^^'"^"'^^^ ^°^-^^^d with 
mats, they are then stored in woven sacks 
I have often observed the entire process 

0«a7/./<>-. p„'.y,, ^^,hes cut in strips 
braided and dried (pi. xxxwn) for winTe; 

Waiicnka^ pi^sikutd i:cm'mak^unun, squashes 
sumptior^^^ ^"' '''-' ^- --^- - 

CORX AXD ITS PREPARATIOX 
From an economic standpoint, the Aleno 
mmi, like the other Central Algonkian tribes 
were fortunately situated. Not onlv did 
the forests comprised within their bound- 
aries furnish abiding places for game of all 
sorts, and the lakes and the rivers shelter 
numerous varieties of fish, but the soil was 
excellent and the climate pleasant, so that 



153 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



154 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



even bv their primitive methods good crops 
could be raised. Of all the vegetal foods 
cultivated by the IMenomini, corn was by far 
the most important. Their origin myth for 
maize is as follows: 

Legend of the Origin of Corn 

Long, long ago a certain man was accus- 
tomed to go hunting, leaving his Httle 
nephew at home to guard his lodge. Every 
time the uncle went out he would tell the 
Uttle fellow, "I have something very mys- 
terious; it is wrapped up in a bundle over 
there in the corner. Take great care of it 
and never open it under any circumstances." 
Day after day the uncle went out and each 
time he instructed his nephew to be careful 
of the bundle. At last one day when the 
old man had departed, the lad thought to 
himself, "I wonder why my uncle is so par- 
ticular about that bundle? I will open it 
and see what is inside." 

Going to the corner where it was kept, the 
bov took the package. He untied wrap- 
ping after wrapping until at last he came 
across a sack in which there were some 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. XXXVIIJ 




MORTAR AND DOUBLE-ENDED PESTLE 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



LEGEND 



grains of corn. "Well," said he, "since 
my uncle is not here Til do as I please." So 
he placed several kernels in the fire to roast 
After a while the heat caused the kernels 
to expand, and at last they exploded with 
loud reports, like giant popcorn. The 
particles feh aU over the lodge, and some 
flew outdoors, where they lav, covering 
the ground like snow. One even fell in the 
path of his uncle, although he was hunting 
a long distance away. As soon as the old 
man saw -it he knew exactly what had hap- 
pened, and he set out for his lodge as fast 
as he could go. In the meanwhile the fright- 
ened nephew tried to gather up the frag- 
ments and conceal them, but there were so 
many that he was unable to do so. They 
lay everywhere; some even rolled under the 
bed. While the boy was still at work gath- 
ermg them up, his uncle arrived. Rushing 
into the wig^vam, he cried, "Xephew, vou 
have done that which I strictly forbade ^ou 
to do! You have made me verv angry, 
and I am going to punish vou for it!" 

He seized the lad and beat him until he 
was too tired to strike. Then he picked him 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



155 



156 



M E N O M I N I CULTURE 



up and to3sed him out of the lodge through 
the smoke-hole. "Never come back here 
again," he said. "I can never forgive you 
for opening this sack of mine." Then he 
added, "Let there be snow and storm." 

According to the command of the old 
man, who was a very powerful Mitd'o, the 
storm came and the snow fell. The old 
man knew that he must get rid of his 
nephew, for he realized that the lad had 
great supernatural power, which he might 
sometime turn against hun. In the mean- 
time the boy lay on the ground where he 
had fallen, and the snow covered him over 
until he was out of sight. There he re- 
mained ten days. At the end of the time 
he arose, went into his uncle's lodge and 
slew him. When the old man was dead, 
the youth inherited all his effects, including 
the corn, which the old man had selfishly 
hidden away from mankind, but which the 
nephew gave to all the world. 
Cultivation 

In cultivating maize the IMenomini usu- 
ally planted it in large hills placed far apart. 



INDIAN NOTES 



CULTIVATION 



Some had no hills at all, preferring to drop 
the seed in holes in level ground; still others 
were accustomed to plant in holes and build 
up the hills after the seed had sprouted. 
Several kinds of corn were known. Among 
them were popcorn and the ordinarv maize, 
of which latter there were two varieties, an 
early blue form, and a white form ripening 
later in the season. The ears of the old 
native maize were not long and symmetrical 
like those now seen, but short, nubbv, and 
conical, with comparatively few kernels. 
The change in shape and size is ascribed by 
the Indians to improved methods and im- 
plements of agriculture. It is thought that 
the old-time hoes were furnished with stone 
blades. 

Preparation 

Popcorn, called nani'sapimhi^ "mouse 
corn," or "little brother," was also raised. 
It was usually prepared by roasting or 
parching, and pounding it in a mortar, with 
the addition of dried meat, maple sugar, or 
wild rice, or all three. In this condition it 
was very nourishing, so much so that a 



157 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



158 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



small quantity with the addition of a little 
water sustained one a long time. Conse- 
quently it was a favorite food for travelers, 
hunters, and warriors, who could not be 
troubled to carry any great bulk of food on 
their extended excursions. Ordinary maize 
was also prepared and used in the same way. 
In the autumn, corn is gathered and 
brought into the lodges, where it is husked 
at the convenience of the owners. Jolly 
husking-bees often accompany this labor, 
when young and old enjoy themselves in 
much the same manner as do white people 
under similar circumstances. In husking 
the corn all the sheathes except four or five 
are stripped from the cob. These are 
turned back and braided together around 
a basswood cord, which strengthens the 
braid, so that it can support the ear. The 
braids of corn, often as much as six or 
eight feet long, are swung from a cross-bar 
supported by two crotched uprights, at a 
height of five or six feet from the ground. 
These uprights, generally placed under a 
bark shelter, are allowed to bear their 
burden outdoors throughout the autumn 



INDIAN NOTES 



P R E P A R A T I O X 



159 



and sometimes through the winter as well. 
When the owners have the leisure or feel 
in the mood, the corn is taken down and 
shelled. The kernels are put in bags of 
woven string and stored away out of reach 
of mice, squhrrels, and other rodents, until 
needed for use. 

The dry corn is prepared in a number of 
ways, one of the most common being the 
following: The corn is shelled and is then 
crushed in a small, horizontal wooden mor- 
tar with a short, heavy, double-headed 
pestle (pi. xxxviii). This reduces the corn 
to coarse flour or meal, but chaff is freely 
mixed with it. To remove this it is not 
sifted through a basket, as is done among 
other eastern Woodland tribes, but is win- 
nowed in a birch-bark tray like the wild rice. 
After winnowing, the coarse part is boiled 
for hominy, and the finer flour is used for 
gruels or for cakes. Sometimes when the 
corn is still on the stalk, women go through 
the fields trying the ears. If they find that 
the kernels are fairly hard they pick a quan- 
tity. These they take home. They may 
boil and eat them at once, or they may first 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



160 


M E N M I N I CULTURE 


• 


parboil them, in preparation for storage, as 
follows: The half-cooked ears are taken 
and held firmly down against the bottom 
of a dish, while the kernels are cut off with 
a knife, or sometimes shelled with the back 
of the blade. A rush mat or a sheet of 
birch- or cedar-bark is stretched over a 
grate of poles, and the kernels are spread on 
this and allowed to dry in the sun, though in 
bad or cloudy weather the process is carried 
on indoors. This is the favorite corji for 
soup. For feasts it is mixed with beans. It 
is named "sewa'pimenilk,'^ and is called 
"great in a feast." 

Another popular dish is prepared by 
scraping the green corn from the cob with a 
tool made from one of the unworked rami 
of the inferior maxillary of the deer. The 
kernels, which are considerably broken up 
by the scraping, are put in a birch-bark pan 
or dish. Grease is added and thoroughly 
mixed with the corn, which is molded into 
cakes and baked in the ashes. 

Green corn is often baked. For this pur- 
pose a hole is dug, about six feet long and 
four feet broad, by two or three feet deep. 




INDIAN NOTES 



COOKING 



The bottom is lined with a layer of flat 
stones. Half-ripe ears of corn are husked 
and laid on the stones and covered with a 
layer of husks. Then another laver of 
stones is laid in place, and another laver of 
corn, and so on for several tiers. A slow 
fire composed of wood leaving plentiful 
ashes and coals is made over the pit. This 
fire is usually started in the evening and al- 
lowed to burn all night. In the morning the 
ears are removed, and the corn shelled with 
either a deer-jaw scraper or a musselshell 
It is boiled and is then readv for consump- 
tion. 

Again, the ripe, well-grown corn is shelled 
from the cob. Wood-ashes are added to 
water until it becomes slimv, making a 
strong lye. The liquid is drawn off and 
placed m another kettle, and the ashes are 
thrown away. Then the kernels are put 
in and boiled. When the lye has softened 
the hulls, the corn is removed and repeatedly 
washed and rubbed with the hands. For 
this rinsing it is often placed in a huUing- 
bag (pi. Liv, b, c) and shaken about in the 
water. This also serves to break ofif the 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



161 



162 



M EN O MINI CULTURE 



hulls, which drain away with the water 
through the coarse meshes of the bag. The 
sound of the shaken corn indicates when the 
hulls are separated. The clean kernels are 
dried and stored in woven "short bags." 
At this stage it is called ki'.cekonayase'komik, 
"looking hke popcorn after cooked," and is 
used to make soup. Such soup is seasoned 
by the addition of deer-bones, which are 
boiled with it, their marrow flavoring it. 
Sometimes red corn is cooked without hull- 
ing; it is shelled and boiled a long time 
until tender. 

When travehng and not desiring to be 
overburdened, the Menomini frequently 
stored their corn in boxes made of bark of 
black ash or ehn, which they buried at a 
spot to which they hoped to return (see page 
152). 

In addition to foods of corn and of wild 
rice the Menomini knew also quite a num- 
ber of edible roots, nuts, fruits, and berries, 
which they did not cultivate, but gathered 
where they could find them. These were 
dried, made into preserves or jams, or eaten 
uncooked. 



INDIAN NOTES 



V'OCABULARY 
CORN 

Ina'n li'a'pimin, white corn 
apesa'pimhi, black or 'blue' corn 
ktnuputantn (long white kernels)', white man' 

osainca'pimin, yellow dent, i 
nam sapimin, popcorn. 
scica'pimin, sweet corn. 

SQUASH 

Uma'mdku'uasm, small, spotted, native squash 
" squir"'"' hard Variety of Hurar'd 
liisauivi'k'u^i nama'kii'un, pumpkin. 

BERRIES 

Anepimi'mm, service-berries. 

pia'kamhiiln, cranberries 

noma'kiminuk, gooseberries C sturgeon-berries') 

sakiviikominuk, June-berries. ^ ' 

me nun, blueberries. 

md-kata'i y:ano'k^unii]z, black raspberries 

ama hcamt ^cano'k^unuk, red raspberries 

oskishki mtnnn, low-bush blackberries 

paica henunfm, high-bush cranberries ' 

' burspo'ttrd!''"^^'^' '^"^^'' '"^^ --b->' 

FRUITS 

Scwa'non, wild grapes 

nmmasewa'non, wild grapes (large varietv) 

tata ki minim, chokecherries ^''^^}J- 

na^nocmin, black cherries 

^^^■^gislihninun, red (birch-bark) cherries. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



164 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



VEGETABLES 

Pigwa'ic pani'uk, wild potatoes. 
wapise'pin, white potatoes. 
atape'pin, edible root. 
sikako'sia, wild onion. _ 

kwuamwi'sia, milkweed (used tor greens). 
ivake'pen, 3^ellow water-lily root. 

NUTS 

Nano'tckopaka'n, hickory-nuts. 
paka'n awdpaka'n, butternuts. 
sdwd'nimtn, beechnuts. 
paka'esick, hazelnuts. 
apd^simhiiin, pin-oak acorn. 
oske'teminun, white-oak acorn. 

:^1APLE SUGAR 

Legend of the Origin of Maple Sugar 
Many years ago, Ma"nabus was traveling 
about over the earth when his attention was 
attracted to the maple tree. It had not 
been one of his own creations; indeed, it was 
made bv some other hero. Md"nabus was 
displeased with it, for in those days its sap 
was pure syrup, and it ran very slowly. 

"That is a poor way," said he, "for the 
sap to run; it is too slow and tedious for 
my aunts [the women] and my uncles [the 
men] to wait for it, and it is too hard to get 



INDIAN NOTES 





CO •-= 

< « 

CO -c 

Q ^ 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



X 





WOODEN LADLE FOR STIRRING SAP, AND WOODEN MORTAR 
Length of a, 14^ in.; of b, 261 in- 



MAPLE SUGAR 



out of the bark dishes. Til make it better 
and more profitable for them." 

So, suiting his actions to his words he 
went over and urinated into the tree and 
his urine united with the sap and made it 
thinner so that it flowed more freely. 

"Xow," said he, "my uncles and mv 
aunts will hereafter realize that this is a far 
better way for them to get their sugar 
Heretofore they got the syrup too cheaply 
but now they will have to work for it b^' 
their sweat. There will be more sap but 
they must prepare it." 

Sugar ZVIaklxg 

In the latter part of February and in 

^March the .Alenomini formerly made their 

sugar, but they claim that now the seasons 

have changed, and they estabhsh their 

sugar-camps in late .March or early in \pril 

generally during the latter month. When 

the proper time has arrived they withdraw 

to their favorite ''sugar bushes." where the 

men busy themselves in cutting four-foot 

fagots lor the fires, while the women sort the 

birch-bark dishes (pi. xxxix; .), washing 



165 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



166 



M 



ENOMINI CULTURE 



and preparing them for use. When one is 
found to be broken or leaky, it is marked 
with charcoal at the defective pomt and 
set aside. The sound receptacles are put 
up in nests of ten and bound with strings of 
bark. When this has been done the women 
commence to mend the leaky ones. For 
this purpose they calk them with pitch 
obtained from deposits on sawn logs, which 
they scrape off with a knife. The handle of 
this tool is wrapped with cloth to protect 
the hand from the sticky substance. It no 
logs are available, a hole is chopped m a 
pine tree, and the sap is allowed to collect. 
This sap is then gathered and boiled m a 
kettle which is swung over a glowing heap 
of coals, but drawn to one side; or it is 
placed in a skillet. Great care must be 
taken to prevent a coal or a spark from 
igniting it. When it hangs sticky and 
stringy from the stirring-paddle, it is done. 
The cracks in the leaky vessels are daubed 
with the pitch, and rags are laid over it, 
which are covered in their turn. These 
tasks take up the workers' time until the 
warm spring days cause the sap to run. 



INDIAN NOTES 



GATHERING SAP 



Then a man takes his axe and a couple of 
assistants, his children, if he has anv, and 
sets out. The assistants carrv the iron 
gouge for cutting holes in the trees, the 
spouts, and the receptacles for collecting 
the sap. Finding a suitable maple, the 
man takes his axe and chops mto the sunny 
side of the tree, drives in the iron gouge- 
shaped implement at the lower end of the 
cut, and inserts a wooden spout in the open- 
ing so made (pi. xxxix, b). If the sap is 
flowmg properly, it begins to gush out at 
once. A good worker wUl tap from two 
hundred to three hundred trees a day 
^^hen the spout has been inserted, one of 
the assistants places a dish under it, and 
the party proceeds. An hour or an hour 
and a half before dark the sap is gathered 
tor if left longer it turns bitter and is useless' 
None must be wasted, or the Powers Below 
^viU be offended and foul weather wiU ensue 
In case this occurs, the contents of the 
catching dishes are thrown out, and the 
dishes inverted under the spout until the 
ram or the snow ceases, when they are 
replaced in their proper position. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



167 



168 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




Two birch-bark buckets suspended from 
a shoulder-yoke (fig. 11) are used for carry^ 
ing the sap. As rapidly as they are filled 
they are brought back to camp and poured 
out in a vat or trough. This may have been 
hollowed out of a single, huge basswood. 



p-jc 11 —Shoulder-yoke used in gathering 
sap. (Length, 28 in.) 

One such, seen by the writer, 
has a capacity of from five to 
thirty pork-barrels. Sometimes 
a hollow log is used, the ends 
being stopped up, and the 
cracks calked with white slip- 
^ pery-elm-bark fiber and pitch. 
This trough lies partly inside and partly 
outside the sugar-camp so that it will be 
convenient for the workers. 

The camp itself is a log house with no 
windows, the requisite light coming from 
the door, through the smoke-hole m the 
roof, and from the fires. A scaffold upheld 



INDIAN NOTES 



SUGAR MAKING 



by crotched posts in the center of the house 
is covered with cross-poles, and under it is 
suspended the metal kettle for boiling the 
sap over the fire. In some cases, instead 
of a scaffold in the center, there are poles 
running from end to end of the house, over 
which cross-poles are laid. The sap vat pro- 
jects into the room at the opposite side of 
the house from the door, and the smoke- 
hole is in the center of the roof, directly 
over the fires. So much for th.e interior 
arrangement of the camp. 

The sap is poured into the vat outside the 
house, and is dipped up with kettles inside. 
These kettles are then hung over the fires. 
They have to be watched constantly, lest 
the}' boil over. In this event the watchers 
thrust into the sap a stick, to the end of 
which fresh pine-tips have been tied. This 
causes the hquid to recede. As fast as the 
sap boils away, more is added, until the vat 
is emptied. Now syrup begins to form in 
the kettles, which are immediately drawn 
to one side. A syrup stirrer, called nata'poa- 
kun (pi. XL, a), is thrust in at intervals and 
twisted in such a way that the sap is lifted 



169 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



170 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




up on it and allowed to fall back in the ket- 
tle. When the syrup hangs in a stringy, 
sticky mass, it is taken away from the fires 
and allowed to cool, when it is strained 
through a thin sack or a sheeting. When 
the syrup has been cleared of impurities, it 
is taken, two or three quarts at a time (not 
more, bcause it expands rapidly), and 
cooked again over a small fire. After fif- 
teen to thirty minutes it is done. This fact 
is recognized either by the way in which it 
drips from the stirring-paddle, or by its 
taste. It is then stirred until it begins to 
harden. Sometimes the white of an egg is 
added to lighten the color. Then it is taken, 
while still warm, and poured into a wooden 
trough, where it is pulverized by rubbing and 
crushing wdth a heavy wooden ladle as it 
coagulates. The pulverized sugar is placed 
in birch-bark mococks, in which it is closely 
packed, but not pressed in hard lest it 
become too solid to be removed. Small, 
hard cakes of various shapes are often put 
in with the sugar. This process may be 
dispensed with, and it may be run into 
molds and allowed to harden in the various 




INDIAN NOTES 



GRADES 



171 



shapes that the fancy of the maker dictates. 
These molds do not have to be greased like 
our pastry forms, for the sugar comes out 
very readily when cool. In former times 
fresh-water musselshells, or bones, or carved 
wooden forms shaped like turtles, stars, 
leaves, or dishes, were used for this purpose. 
Xow commercial molds have largely taken 
their place. To make candy, or wax {se'kat- 
katdo), the syrup must be taken after the 
last boiling, and before it has hardened, 
and pulled, exactly like taffy. 

When the sugar has been granulated, it is 
graded according to quality (the whiter the 
sugar the better) and stored away. To the 
leavings in the kettle is added sap which 
has been boiled a little, and this is cooked 
again to make second-grade sugar. It is 
considered a disgrace, and an offence to 
Mii^ndbus, to spill or waste any sap; the 
sugar will shrink as a punishment. On the 
other hand, if the Indians are careful, they 
will have more than they think they have. 
A sacrifice is oft'ered at every initial cooking. 
Sugar should be used at all feasts, and the 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



172 



:M E N O M I N I CULTURE 



entire portion placed before each guest must 
be consumed. 

After the sugar-making the kettles are 
washed by rubbing with wood-ashes and a 
stone until they are bright and clean, the 
Indians taking great pains with them. 

Vocabulary 
general terms 

Sopoma'lik so' porno, maple-tree sugar. 
ina'n so' porno, real sugar. 
mama'tcetau so' porno, Indian sugar. 
sopoma'^pokunin, 'sugar bush,' or grove of 
sugar-maple trees where sap is collected. 



Wapishomana'kawaido, white grade; the first 

run. 
-d'e^sa'nwamaka, brown sugar; the second run. 
se'katkatdo, maple-sugar wax. 
ape'^samaka pend'o-omi, or pend'o-mi ('black 

partridge dung,' or 'partridge dung'). The 

dark and bitter last run or fourth grade of 

sugar. 



WikVnatci' piakiin, birch-bark sap-bucket. 
naio'wakim asna'tcipi, yoke for carrying sap- 
buckets, etc. 
makwu'kivuamilcikihi, wooden sap-spout. 
wiki hona'knn, birch-bark dish for collecting sap. 



INDIAN NOTES 



H U X T I X G 



173 



nata'poakihu sap-stirrer. 

nakawahi'tciu, pulverizing-trough of wood. 

a'miskivihi snakaica/in'tci, ladle for pulverizing, 

made very heavy. 
a^nopi'akun, sap-trough. 

HUXTIXG, GAME, AND :^IEATS 

Although agriculture played no mean part 
in the :\Ienomini struggle for existence, 
nevertheless it was not developed by the 
tribe to a point where it was their principal 
source of food. Fishing and especially hunt- 
ing supplied the major portion of their diet. 

IMagic axd Mythology of the Chase 

As the writer has brought out in another 
paper, 9 the ^Nlenomini not only resorted to 
every practical device in the way of snares 
and traps for taking game, but employed a 
number of mystic formulae, including sacred 
bundles with their rituals, to overpower 
their quarry by means of sympathetic and 
contagious magic. To the present day, no 
hunter, however skilled, believes for a mo- 
ment that he could be successful without the 
aid of sacred charms and incantations. 

The most important of the hunting- 



AND .AIOXO GRAPHS 



174 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




bundles is one called Misa'sakiwis. This 
potent medicine was obtained from the 
manitous by the Culture-Hero Md"ndbiis, 
who fasted until the hearts of the Powerful 
Beings were smitten with pit}^ for his deplor- 
able state. The first animal to respond 
was the beaver, who gave his mystic song 
to lure the game, and his skin to contain 
the medicines. Next was the weasel, re- 
nowned for his ferocity and his success as 
a hunter. The mink followed, for he is 
wise in the ways of animal-kind, and, after 
him, the wolf, who is master of the deer, and 
many other predatory creatures added their 
powers. This bundle is given by the gods 
to especially worthy men, to whom they 
appear in visions. 

The opening of the bundle in a "clean 
place" in the woods precedes the hunt. 
The men of the party perform a dance 
dramatizing the chase and slaughter of the 
deer, and its subsequent preparation for 
food. Next morning they smudge their 
weapons in incense taken from the bundle, 
and set out, sure of success, because the 
essence of the charmed pack has already 




INDIAN NOTES 



HUNTING-BUNDLES 



permeated the forest during the night and 
stupefied the game. The bundle also con- 
tains formulae for killing and blinding 
witches, one of whose wicked activities con- 
sists in stealing luck from hunters. As the 
witch-destroying formulae can be turned 
against innocent parties, the bundle has 
fallen into disrepute, although its game- 
overpowering quahties are generally ac- 
knowledged. Few of these packs are in 
existence, but another and almost as im- 
portant a medicine is more widely distrib- 
uted. Indeed parts of it may be found in 
the possession of almost every conservative 
male JMenomini. This is the famous 
"Spotted Fawn iMedicine," or Kitagd'sa 

The spotted fawn medicine was given to 
Md^ndhus because the first bundle which 
he received from the Powers was too dif- 
ficult for ordinary mortals to obtain, only a 
few persons being worthy to possess it. 
The lesser packet contains two gifts from 
the animals that are of transcendent impor- 
tance. The wolf, as master of the deer, 
donated his abilities in the chase, and the 



175 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



176 


M E N M I N I CULTURE 




deer themselves submitted, giving their 
consent to be captured that the Indians 
need not starve. Because of its small 
size, Md'hidhus doubted the efficacy of this 
charm, but the manitous took bim to an 
island in the middle of the ocean, and there, 
after he had performed the rites, all the 
animals in the world appeared before him, 
and he was convinced. 

In addition to these principal charms, 
there are all manner of personal hunting- 
fetishes of lesser value, either obtained in 
dreams by their owners or bought of suc- 
cessful hunters and wizards. There are 
even times when it is permissible to use 
war-bundles, or perhaps only certain ones 
among them, to take game. None of these 
things is of such tribal importance as are 
the two great hunting-bundles, which, while 
privately owned, are employed for public 
benefit, and are regarded as national stand- 
bys in days of starvation. 

Many are the superstitions and behefs 
of the Menomini regarding the taking of 
game. In their philosophy, if not in prac- 
tice, animals must not be slain wantonly. 




INDIAN NOTES 



SUPERSTITIONS 



Each species of wild game is supposed to 
have its chief or ruler, resident under- 
ground, and no doubt connected, if not 
identical with, the animal manitous con- 
trolling the four tiers of the Underworld. 
It is further believed that in the beginning 
all slain creatures came to Hfe and returned 
to their former haunts, ready to be slaugh- 
tered again, on the fourth day. However, 
when the Culture-Hero refused to let the 
Powers Beneath revive his younger brother 
whom they had slain, this resurrrection 
ceased. Nevertheless, it is beheved that 
only by propitiating game animals and their 
leaders will beasts be allowed to fall a 
prey to the weapons and the traps of the 
hunter. 

The bear is the recipient of special rever- 
ence and is not killed without a ceremony 
and apology, a custom widespread among 
the Central and Northern Algonkians.^^ 
Bones of the bear are scrupulously collected 
that they may not become food for dogs, 
and are deposited in running water. The 
skull is hung in a tree in a "clean place" in 
the woods. These animals are supposed to 



177 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



178 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




reside in springs during winter, as well as in 
drier hibernating quarters. 

The wolf was never deprived of life unless 
some hunter, having repeatedly missed fire, 
decided that his bow or his gun was at 
fault. He therefore slew a wolf, and, laying 
his weapon between the forefeet of the ani- 
mal, presented the carcass with tobacco, 
begging it, or rather its spirit, to cause his 
missiles to find their mark. In former 
years, it is said that an Indian who had use- 
lessly taken the life of any small animal was 
obliged to absolve himself by offering to- 
bacco and prayer, lest ill luck befall him. 

It is believed that in the spring the deer 
face the south, and that the wind from that 
quarter blows away their gray winter coats 
and gives in exchange the red fur of summer. 
In the fall, they feed facing north, and the 
process is reversed. In the beginning the 
deer desired to eat man, but was rendered 
harmless by virtue of an edict of the assem- 
bled gods, who rendered it subordinate to 
men and to wolves. The deer is regarded as 
t'he most useful of all animals; its flesh is 
food, its skin is valuable for clothing, its 




INDIAN NOTES 



SUPERSTITIONS 



179 



hair for ornaments or quilting, its bones for 
tools, its antlers for arrowpoints and glue, 
its hoofs and dew-claws for glue and orna- 
ments, and its sinew for thread. 

Lone muskrats, outlawed by their tribe, 
are supposed to grow great in size and feroc- 
ity, even attacking men. A muskrat se- 
cured the mud of which the Great Dawn 
reconstructed the earth during the flood. 
The muskrats are admirers of the tribe of 
beavers, whom they imitate in the con- 
struction of their lodges, but not very suc- 
cessfully. Muskrats are excellent food, but 
are generally considered fit only for old 
people. 

Dogs are eaten on 'ceremonial occasions, 
but not even then with reHsh. To spare 
the feelings of the feasters, so it is said, the 
meat is referred to as "white raccoon." 
Dogs could once speak, but were indiscreet 
and so lost the privilege. 

Garter-snakes are said to change into 
chipmunks, and vice versa. The small 
painted turtle, scratching his gaily red- 
blotched sides, causes sparks to fly off, and 
thus sets the prairies on fire. The snapping 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



180 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




turtle, highly valued for food, especially for 
sacred feasts, is called by a number of cere- 
monial names, such as Mi'shikdo, which I 
suspect is Hterally "Hairy (Mossy) One," 
and Ukema'uwuiinl, "Chief Man." 

Another myth recounts that the catfish, 
little and insignificant as it now appears, 
on one occasion slew a huge moose. His 
head is flattened because a moose once 
kicked him there. There is a semi-human 
sturgeon who is looked upon as a "strong 
power," and has been known to travel on 
land. These, and a host of other little 
superstitions concerning the animal king- 
dom, are current among the Indians. 

Customs of the Chase 

THE PEAST of THE FIRST GAME 

The first animal, whether furred or feath- 
ered, that was slain by a male child, was 
made the object of much congratulation by 
his parents, who immediately had it cooked, 
no matter how worthless it might be, and 
served in an informal feast or celebration 
called the Oskind'nitdwtn, or "Youth's 
Dance," to which even the prominent men 




INDIAN NOTES 



DIVISION OF GAME 



181 



of the camp were invited, and of which the}' 
pretended to partake with great solemnity. 
This was done by the way of encouraging 
the youthful Nimrod to slay game, and thus 
become "a good provider" among his 
people. 

THE DIVISION OF GAME 

Among the :\Ienomini a man's father-in- 
law has a peculiar right to a share in any 
bear which his son-in-law may kill. It is 
his duty to skin the animal, and he is en- 
titled to keep the hide, one side, the head, 
and the neck. This rule does not apply to 
other game. If any person chances on a 
hunter who has just killed a deer, the 
slayer is forced by custom to give him the 
hide and a portion of the meat, especially if 
the newcomer is an old man. It then falls 
on the recipient to skin and cut up the deer. 
The slayer is entitled to receive the head, 
shoulders, brisket, lungs, heart, and back.' 
The custom of surrendering part of the kill 
to a new arrival is called a'poko\ and the 
act of giving it was accompanied by the 
phrase, "N'da'bokiimn,'' "I give it to you," 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



182 



M E N M INI CULTURE 



with the gesture of flinging out . the open 
right-hand. I have seen a man surrender 
the entire carcass of a small mammal, such 
as a squirrel, to a stranger who, having 
heard the shot, ran to the spot in hope of 
surprising the hunter. I have also seen a 
man, thus caught, "buy off" the newcomer 
by means of some small gift. 
Deer Hunting 

Deer were driven to slaughter in the fol- 
lowing manner: Trees were chopped and 
allowed to fall partly over, with Kmbs on 
the ground, and trunks still attached to 
their stumps. This was done at intervals, 
all the trees being made to lie in the same 
direction. Two V-shaped, or inward-point- 
ing lines of these were made, the arms of the 
V often extending several miles. At the 
apex of the V was a narrow opening where 
several armed hunters were concealed. 

A body of men beat over the country, 
driving the deer into the mouth of the V 
or funnel. Fearing or hesitating to break 
through the lines of fallen trees, the animals, 
if not too frightened by the drivers, ran 



INDIAN NOTES 



DEER HUNTING 



slowly straight on to the apex of the trap, 
where they were easily shot. 
. This method of driving is called kuska'- 
ku'Ctso or spimawanota'^ka, "the drive," or 
apd"sosspe'mepatiikuu, "the deer, now their 
running." The time of year best suited for 
this manner of hunting was when the gar- 
den stuffs were full grown. The last drive 




Fig. 12.— Wooden deer call. (Length, 4| in.) 

was held at Thunder lake, near Little hill 
iWatci'use), in 1870. Not every one was 
able to be successful in deer-driving, not 
even those who used the great hunting- 
bundles. 

Lone hunters took deer by twitch-pole 
snares with slip nooses, set in the animals' 
trails. Does are still called to the hunter 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



183 



184 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




Fig. 13.— Hunter using the deer call. 



INDIAN NOTES 



DEER HUNTING 



in the spring. The man conceaHng himself, 
imitates the bleat of a new-born fawn by 
means of a double wooden horn (fig. 12, 13). 
Any doe in the neighborhood will rush 
to the spot on hearing the plaintive cry. 
The Indians consider this method danger- 
ous, as wildcats and wolves are also often 
lured by the sound. 

Deer are still chased down their runways 
by dogs, or by men beating the bushes, until 
they pass hidden hunters. This style of 
chase is called mi'uskiiniik. In modern 
times, at least, deer are attracted to arti- 
ficial salt "licks," where the hunter has a 
scaffold erected, from which he shoots his 
game. Still-hunting on foot, or from a 
canoe, has always been practised. At night 
deer are approached where they gather to 
eat the pads and stems of water-lilies in the 
shallows of streams and ponds. A jack- 
light, consisting of a blackened wooden 
sconce supporting a resinous torch (fig. 14, 
and 48, a), is used to dazzle the eyes of the 
game until the hunter can shoot. 



185 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



186 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




Fig. 14.— Jacklight used in hunting game. 
(Height, 471 in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



BEAR HUNTING 


187 


Bear Huxtixg 

In olden times, men armed with spears 
having stone blades and wooden shafts "a 
man's height in length," entered bears' dens 
and slew them single-handed at close 
quarters. This was considered to be as 
brave a deed as to slay an enemy. Bears 
were also trapped in various wa}^s. An 
ancient method, still sometimes employed, 
was the deadfall, or ta'no'nagun. This was 
made of a heavy log, often weighted at the 
upper end with stones. The log was set up 
obliquely and was supported by a "figure 
4" trigger. Directly under the log, a small 
enclosure of stakes was built, in which the 
bait was placed. In order to get at the lure 
the bear was obliged to enter the enclosure. 
The instant that the bait was touched, the 
trigger to which it was attached released the 
log, which crashed down on the animal and 
broke its back. I have frequently seen this 
identical device employed by the Ojibwa 
north of Lake Superior, and have observed 
similar deadfalls in use by the JMenomini 
and the northern Algonkians to take smaller 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





188 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




fur-bearing animals. The Ojibwa, and 
doubtless the IVIenomini, utilize a variation 
of the deadfall for trapping bear, in which 
the animal, instead of entering an enclosure, 
is obliged to stretch its neck over a log. 
When the trigger is released, another log 
falls crosswise on the neck of the brute, and 
either breaks it or causes death by strangu- 
lation. Nooses arranged to twitch upward 
and hang the bear are set in a similar man- 
ner. In modern times, the Menomini fre- 
quently set traps of steel in a small enclos- 
ure hke that made to house the bait for the 
deadfall, so that the bear on entering may be 
caught by the leg. To the trap is chained 
a heavy log "clog" which drags after the 
wounded animal attempting escape, and 
makes his trail well marked and easy to 
follow. Bears are also captured in pitfalls 
called swa'nakiitak. These are set in the 
bear path or trail, and covered with rotten 
sticks or reeds, over which earth and leaves 
are sprinkled. 

For bait, besides magic lures, honey, 
apples, pork, beaver musk, and other sweet- 
smelling or oily substances are used. It is 




INDIAN NOTES 



BEAR HUNTING 



189 



said that a bear will travel a long way out 
of his path to find the source of any sweet 
or unusual savor brought to his nostrils by 
the wind. Still-hunting on foot with the 
rife, or formerly with the bow, was done 
principally in the late summer, when the 
bear gorges on raspberries, and travels 
widely m search of abandoned clearings or 
burnt-over openings in the forest w^here the 
fruit grows in abundance. In the fall the 
bear roams again, this time feeding prin- 
cipally at night on acorns from the oak 
trees which cover the sandy plains and 
ridges. The Indians say that the bear 
relies on this feast of acorns to provide the 
fat which is to carry him through his winter 
sleep. The ]\Ienomini declare that at other 
seasons the bear is met with only by acci- 
dent, and inhabits the heart of the forest. 
It is said that bears were formerly hunted 
out in their winter quarters, early in the 
spring, when the females have just brought 
forth their young. It was at this time that 
adventurous youths showed their metal by 
hand-to-hand conflicts in the den. 

The :Menomini speak of several varieties 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



190 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




of bears besides the black and the grizzly; 
the latter animal, by the way, was known 
to them only from their raids beyond the 
Mississippi for war or for buffalo. The 
additional species of which the.elders speak 
are doubtless all mythical. One of these 
is a bear called kinu'a, which had no fur on 
its sides. This may be a survival of an 
ancient pan-Algonkian conception, since 
a similar hairless bear occurs in the legends 
of the Delaware and Mahican tribes of the 
Middle Atlantic states. 

Other Game 

The eyes and feet of small animals such 
as rabbits, muskrats, and the like, are care- 
fully removed by the hunter, strung on bass- 
wood strings, and festooned about the lodge. 
This makes the surviving members of the 
species less able to see or feel the traps set 
for them. Rabbits are taken by simple 
nooses set in their runways. The stupid 
little animal, hopping along, finds its nar- 
row path partially blocked with fresh twigs 
set upright, and only a small opening left. 
Through this it thrusts its head and neck. 




INDIAN NOTES 



C A N N I B A L I S M 



to become entangled in the noose of hair 
or cord neatly set there and swiftly choked 
to death. The large gray Canada lynx 
is said to be as easily trapped as the rabbit, 
and in a similar manner. As the lynx has 
the habit of following travelers in the for- 
est, probably out of curiosity, the Indians 
sometimes set nooses behind them in their 
own trails, like rabbit snares but on a larger 
scale, so that any lynx dogging their foot- 
steps may be caught. L3'nx are also driven 
into trees by dogs, and then captured by 
means of a slip noose fastened to the end of 
a pole and thrust over the big cat's head. 
It is then an easy matter to choke the ani- 
mal to death. The Indians insist that the 
common wildcat, though much smaller than 
the lynx, is a much more intelligent and 
ferocious animal, and cannot be so easily 
taken. 

Cannib.alism 

Human flesh was eaten ceremonially by 
the warriors, who cooked and devoured 
small portions of the bodies of slain ene- 
mies on the field of battle. The heart of a 



191 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



192 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




brave foeman was especially prized as giv- 
ing the courage of the vanquished to his 
conqueror. In this connection it is inter- 
esting to note the corroboration of native 
statements found in the observations of a 
British officer made during the siege of Fort 
Meigs on the Maumee river, Ohio, in the 
war of 1812, and published in the London 
New Monthly Magazine for December, 1826. 
The ]\Ienomini warriors to whom he refers 
were at that time enlisted in the service of 
the British. 

"As we continued to advance into the heart 
of the encampment, a scene of more disgusting 
nature aroused our attention. Stopping at the 
entrance of a tent occupied by the Minoumini 
tribe, we observed them seated around a large 
fire, over which was suspended a kettle contain- 
ing their meal. Each warrior had a piece of 
string hanging over the edge of the vessel, and 
to this was suspended a food, which, it will be 
presumed we heard not without loathing, con- 
sisted of a part of an American; any expression 
of our feelings, as we declined the invitation 
they gave us to join in their repast, would have 
been resented by the Indians without much 
ceremony. We had, therefore, the prudence to 
excuse ourselves under the plea that we had 
already taken our food, and we hastened to 
remove from a sight so revolting to humanity."^' 




INDIAN NOTES 



DRESSING GAME 



Methods of Preparing and Cookixg ^^Ieats 

One of the favorite methods of dressing 
deer, especially when it is necessary to 
transport the meat for any distance, is to 
remove the flesh in one solid sheet, called 
ma" sa hail, which can easily be carried by 
one man. A quantity of boughs, or grass or 
hay is placed under the carcass to fend it 
from the dirt, and the dressing is commenced 
at the head. The flesh is flayed away in a 
blanket-like mass, which can be rolled into 
small compass. Sometimes the entire sheet 
is spread before the fire on half-a-dozen 
peeled willow wands, slanted toward the 
heat and soon dried. The bones of the 
skeleton are disjointed and boiled, or roasted 
on the coals. In any event, it is customary 
to draw out the entrails first in order to 
preserve the meat from spoihng. The 
tongue also is generally removed shortly 
after the animal is slain. 

Sometimes meat was first parboiled, and 
then roasted on spits before the fire, or it 
was strung on basswood strings and dried in 
front of the blaze. The short ribs of deer 



193 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



194 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




are considered very good and are boiled in 
blocks. The sirloins are esteemed for roast- 
ing, but the back fat, found over the hips, 
is the choicest part. Deer-hams were 
sliced, partially roasted on spits, strung on 
basswood strings and dried. It is believed 
that the flesh of a barren doe or of a lone or 
''bachelor" buck, an outcast from the herds, 
is especially palatable. No taboos con- 
cerning the cooking of venison seemed cur- 
rent, but the Indians declared that bear 
and beaver meat were never boiled in the 
same kettle, owing to the fact that the bear 
and the beaver women once quarreled 
over a human husband, as is related in one 
of their folktales. Young men durst not eat 
the head of the woodchuck, lest it stunt 
their growth. 

Raccoons, and perhaps other small ani- 
mals, were suspended by strings tied about 
the tail, and roasted before the fire, the 
string being slowly twisted to distribute the 
heat. The writer has eaten moose-hearts 
prepared in this way by the Eastern Cree 
and Northern Saulteaux. Meat was often 
roasted on coals, and small animals were 




INDIAN NOTES 



COOKING GAME 



195 



sometimes rolled up in clay and baked in 
the hot ashes. This was a favorite method 
of dealing with porcupines. When the clay 
she]] was split open the quills and hide of 
the animal adhered to the mold and the 
roast came out clean. The entrails were not 
removed as it was thought that they im- 
proved the flavor. Small animals such as 
squirrels were often impaled on spits and 
thus roasted. W^hen all is said and done, 
however, boiJing was the commonest way of 
preparing meat. It is possible that the 
fact that stews and soups can be distributed 
in equal portions with the greatest ease may 
have influenced i\Ienomini pubHc opinion in 
this manner. 

PAuxcH boilixg; bark kettles 

When earthen kettles or other receptacles 
were not available, the IMenomini took the 
stomach of an animal recently slain, and 
filled it with water and pieces of meat. 
This improvised boiler was hung up over a 
slow fire and served to cook a meal or two. 
It could not be used many times, however. 
Birch-bark kettles were also used in the 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



196 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



same way, but they too, it is said, were not 
durable. 

Vocabulary 

MAMMALS 

MUskuti'a pi'shaki'' (formerly pi'shaki'' alone), 

buffalo. 
apa"sos, deer. 
aia'pdo, buck. 
o'ko', doe. 

kilagd'sa, spotted fawn. 
manase'se, larger unspotted fawn. 
oskd'ko, yearling deer (best food). 
oska'liya'pdo, lone or bachelor buck. 
md'nuko, barren doe. 
ouamaid'sia, unborn fawn. 
oma'skos, elk. 

mdlca'ia, unusually large elk. 
nl'kian (child), fawn. 
omo's, moose. 
u'atd'\ caribou. 

mishimi'icaiuuk, gray ('hairy') squirrel. 
ape"scnink, black squirrel. 
osh's, muskrat. 
nomd\ beaver. 

dnd'm, dog (eaten ceremonially). 
mi'sJnvdo, cottontail rabbit. 
ica'pus, snowshoe rabbit, varying hare. 
kitdkabos, wildcat. 
pise'ii, panther. 
pise'sa, lynx. 

mulnc'd'o, wolf (not eaten). 
u'icik, fisher. 
tcapd'sla, marten (rarely eaten). 



INDIAN NOTES 



A N I M A L T E R 2^1 S 



197 



BIRDS 

Pind'o, partridge. 

na^tdkanii'o, prairie chicken. 

muskoidiid'o, quail. 

khca'neu, quail. 

luti's, woodcock. 

'U'ipik-u'ii'kdndo, canvas-back. 

■icakaiyo'sa, butter-ball. 

muskdtl'iido, teal. 

meka'k, wild goose. 

aa'icdo, brant. 

iva'peseo, swan. 

rndse^sip, mallard. 

li'inihigo'sesip, black duck ('Winnebago duck'). 

li'ishintikd'kiii, coot (young). 

ivapikisu'nien, bittern. 

kiciitd'tcia, crane. 

ose, fish-duck. 

supai'shuk, wood-duck. 

apd sakiiiy waxy snow goose. 

mu'ok, loon. 

seke'ma, helldiver. 

mdtc seke'ma, large grebe. 

sd"sa'kco, blue heron. 

liishmi'anuv, long-eared owl. 

ivhi'ishmi'aniiv, great horned owl. 

pipo'ndniu, red-shouldered hawk. 

^li'dliikonn'mi'sd, mourning dove. 

omi'mi, wild pigeon. 

ki"ki, coot, mud-hen. 

PARTS OF THE DEER 

The following terms are applied to the 
cuts of venison, and, to distinguish them 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



198 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




from other game, must usually be preceded 
by the name apd'^sos (deer). 

Wes, head. 

oki'kun, neck. 

otd'n (pi. otd'nmk), shoulder. 

o'sa'naiva'ii ('crotch'), brisket. 

oka"kainau, back. 

ona'kishiiln, entrails. 

ok'^^on, liver. 

otd'skotdkum, pancreas. 

oto'noncsiik, kidneys. 

wena"nuk, tripe. 

weneno'sa, tripe-tallow. 

o'pa'nun, lungs. 

mitd', heart. 

osi'knn or opu'o (pi. opii'omium), saddle. 

o"kum, skin. 

we'wemm, antlers. 

ose'tilk, feet (legs). 

otd'siunik (pi. otd'shinikiin), sirloin. 

ml'kim, buttocks. 

FISHING 

In former years, when the IMenomini were 
situated along the shores of Green bay and 
the rivers which flow into it, fishing played 
an important part in the economy of the 
tribe. Now the Indians have Httle access 
to the bay, and can take only the few species 
of fish that their lakes and streams afford. 




INDIAN NOTES 



STURGEON 



199 



Legexd of the Sturgeon 

In earlier times the sturgeon was foremost 
among the fishes used a.s food. It was found 
not only in Lake Michigan, but ascended 
the favorite rivers of the Menomini to 
spawn. Up to the time that the whites 
placed dams in the Wolf, Keshena falls, on 
the present reserve, was a great resort of 
these fish in the spring. Here the high 
water that follows the thaws and rains 
beats against a mass of rock, making a drum- 
ming noise. Menomini folklore declares 
that this is the music of a mystic drum 
belonging to the manitou who owns the 
cataract. They say that when this drum 
beats, the toads and the frogs begin their 
mating songs, and the sound calls the stur- 
geon to the pools and eddies below the cat- 
aract. There they formerly spawned . and 
were then speared in large numbers. 

Sturgeon played so important a part in 
early Menomini economy that they receive 
frequent mention in mythology. One of the 
first acts of the Great Underground Bear, 
after he had metamorphosed himself into 



AND IMONOGRAPHS 



200 


M EN MINI CULTURE 




the original human ancestor of the tribe, 
was to invent a bark canoe and a spear, 
that he, and his people after him, might 
take these fish. However, in another tale, 
the "Jonah" concept, these inventions are 
credited to Md"nabus. The myth of the 
separation of the tribe ascribes this to a 
dispute over sturgeon, and other examples 
might be cited. 

Methods or Catching Fish 

Sturgeon were usually captured by spear- 
ing, either from the rocks along the shores of 
rivers, where there were pools or shallows, or 
from canoes. The spears which were used 
for this purpose seem to have been bone- 
or copper-headed harpoons, probably, but 
not certainly, unilaterally barbed. Another 
form, probably used for smaller fish, is a 
variety of trident. In this case a straight 
cedar pole, at least ten or twelve feet long, 
was selected, and at the heavier end a mor- 
tise was made to receive two outward-slant- 
ing cedar prongs, serrated inwardly, with a 
central spike between them. This arma- 
ment was held in place by a firm binding of 




INDIAN NOTES 



FISHING . 



cedar-bark twine. The fish was impaled by 
the thrust of the central spike, and pre- 
vented from escaping by the barbed or 
toothed side-prongs. Fish-spearing was and 
is (for the writer has frequently joined the 
Indians in this procedure) often done at 
night in the shallows, the water being il- 
lumined by the rays of a jacklight, such as is 
used to dazzle the eyes of deer (fig. 14). 
Iron spears, bought of the whites, are now 
substituted for those of native make. 

Fishhooks, made of bone or of native 
copper, and generally, if not always, barb- 
less, were commonly used by the jMenomini, 
before, and to some extent after, the period 
of European contact. The writer himself 
once found a copper fishhook on the old 
Menomini site of High Banks near the city 
of Oconto. 

Gill-nets, woven of bark-fiber cord, were 
abundantly utilized. They were held up- 
right in the water by means of lanceolate 
floats whittled of cedar, and weighted down 
by sinkers of notched pebbles. No examples 
of these, nor of several varieties of fish 
snares, vaguely remembered by the elders, 



201 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



202 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



have come down to the present da\^ The 
probability is that they closely resembled 
those still found among the Ojibwa. It is 
said that when nets were set in the winter, 
especially for whitefish, holes were made in 
the ice not far apart, in a long row, and the 
net dropped into the water through the 
first and largest, then pushed with a pole 
from opening to opening, until its entire 
length was spread out. Its stone sinkers 
carried it downward to the deepest bottom, 
where fish congregate in cold weather, and 
its wooden floats or buoys held it upright so 
that fish blundering into it enmeshed their 
gills. 

In chopping holes in the ice for fishing it 
is probable that the ]\Ienomini formerly 
used an ice-chisel of the same type as that 
described to me by old men among the 
Ojibwa and the Cree. This implement 
consisted of a stout handle to one end of 
which a narrow stone or copper celt was 
lashed, or inserted in a cleft and lashed, in 
such a manner that the planes of blade and 
handle were continuous. Narrow celts of 



INDIAN NOTES 



ICEFISHING 



the type described are sometimes found on 
old Menomini sites. 

In winter the :\Ienomini, hke their Ojibwa 
neighbors, and the Eastern jot "Santee" 
bands of Dakota, repair to the lakes to 
angle through the ice. This is accomplished 
in several ways. A hook and line attached 
to a ''tip-up" device, similar to, if not 
identical with that used by the whites, is 
now^ commonly employed, although its an- 
tiquity is questionable. Another method, 
which is surely aboriginal, is as follows: A 
small hut of boughs is built on the ice, and 
covered so tightly with a blanket or robe as 
to exclude the rays of the sun. Beneath 
the shelter a hole about a foot across is cut. 
The fisherman, with the light above him 
excluded, finds the clear water transparent 
to a considerable depth; in fact, the same 
effect can be obtained, though with less 
success, by merely chopping a hole in the 
ice and lying over it, with a blanket thrown 
over the head. An artificial minnow, carved 
of wood and cunningly weighted with lead 
to sink it and keep it balanced, is attached 
to a string and lowered into the water, where 



203 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



204 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



it is given a lifelike motion by jerking the 
cord which is usually fastened to the end of 
a short stick. When a fish attempts to 
seize the lure, it is promptly speared. 

In summer, fish were formerly shot with 
arrows in the shallows. Some say that a 
string was tied to the arrow and this in turn 
made fast to the bow. Apparently the 
practice of shooting fish has not been in 
vogue for a long time. 

Methods of Preparing and Cooking Fish 

When caught fish were usually boiled, 
or roasted on spits, and eaten, but they were 
also dried on scaffolds, or split, tied by the 
tails or hung from a cross-bar, and dried, 
either in the sun, or over a slow fire. To 
this day small fish such as brook trout are 
often smoked entire. In the spring of 1920 
the writer ate some trout prepared in this 
manner at Keshena, and found them a great 
deUcacy. Sturgeon and other large fish 
were drawn, split from the head down, and, 
like the smaller fish, suspended from a hurdle 
or laid on a grill and smoked or dried. 



INDIAN NOTES 



PREPARATION 



Sometimes the sturgeon was sliced in flakes, 
which were smoked or sun-dried. 

Dry or smoked fish were often pounded 
in a mortar before boilmg; or the pulverized 
mass could be added to mush. A dish held 
in high esteem was composed of the head 
and the fins of sturgeon boiled with wild 
rice. Such especially delicate foods were 
called ''mitd'o cooking." 

Sturgeon-roe was dried in the sun. A 
quadrangular scaftold was erected and cov- 
ered with elm-bark laid with the inside up. 
The edges of the bark were tied or weighted 
so that it could not curl inward as it dried, 
and over this a cedar-bark mat was thown. 
The roe was spread on this covering with a 
paddle, and stirred from time to time so 
that it might cure thoroughly. When fi- 
nall>- dried, it was placed in cylindrical cases 
of swamp-ash-bark, about a foot in diam- 
eter and two or three feet high. So prepared, 
the roe could be stored indefinitely. It could 
Ije eaten as it was, or it might be served in 
various ways, chief among which were: 

Roe Pudding: To three tablespoonfuls of 
dried sturgeon-roe, three equal quantities 



205 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



206 


M E N M INI CULTURE 




of flour were added. These were boiled 
together without seasoning. When cooled, 
the eggs expanded so that they sufficed as a 
meal for a large family. 

Roe Dumplings: To dried roe boiling 
water was added until the eggs became of a 
doughy consistency. Then the water was 
poured off into another dish, and the eggs 
kneaded with the fingers. Handfuls were 
dropped into boiling water and cooked. 
The water in which they were prepared 
made excellent soup. 

Roe Cakes: To a quantity of dried roe, 
hot water was added until the eggs were of 
about the same consistency as dough. 
Salt and saleratus were used for seasoning, 
and the paste was kneaded and made into 
cakes which were patted into shape with 
the hands, and then baked. These cakes 
were often eaten with maple syrup or sugar. 

Raw sturgeon-roe was kept until it turned 
black and smelled offensive. The eggs fi- 
nally burst and fermented and made a dish 
very palatable, in spite of the disagreeable 
odor. 




INDIAN NOTES 



TERMS FOR FISH 



207 



Vocabulary 

nsH {Ndma'stik) 

Miii'sa noma'^hos, brook trout. 

nmna'^ko, lake trout. 

oka'o, pike. 

kinu'siii, pickerel. 

miu'skinosfu, muscallonge. 

a^sekii'n, small-mouth bass. 

7muna^se'kun, large-mouth bass. 

masai', gar. 

osi'kiimdk, eel, 

ose'neman, red horse. 

noma' pin, red sucker. 

ape's noma' pin, black sucker. 

nakn'ti, sunfish. 

md'^kwundku'ii, red and black gilled sunfish. 

sipi'andku'ti, rock bass ('river sunfish'). 

Sasaki' sakwiln, silver bass. 

7ia^kd'siik, herring (pi.). 

td'^komik, whitefish. 

ndmd'o, sturgeon. 

isa'-ii'do, yellow perch. 

tcitceke'kuu'dnun, ' dogfish.' 

ivd's€0, catfish. 

ivdsc'se, bullhead. 

TORTOISES 

Mdtc inikd'nd, uku'ema'tiwinini, or mi'shikdo, 

snapping turtle. 
nokd'^kinan, soft turtle. 
su'kuniso, painted ^margined') turtle. 
U'O'weno'sikdo, musk turtle ('fire-maker'). 
posa'kato. sculptured turtle. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



208 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



CANOES AND FISHING TACKLE 

Me'tigos, log canoe. 

wiki'lios, birch-bark canoe. 

ane'pos, elm-bark canoe. 

pi, paddle. 

wasu'kon, jacklight for deer or fish. 

pimi'eta'nau, cross-bar on canoe for attaching 

jack. 
niilciniu'hakuHin, fish-spear. 
muskl'wus, medicine to attract fish. 
ani'ii, fish-spear shaft. 
aJie'^'taivukon, slow-match of cedar-bark for tlie 

jacklight. 
osaiiiva'pa ko'^kau, copper fishhook. 
osauwa'pa natcima'hdgivan, copper fish-spear. 
na'7nd's a'tiup, gill-net (also called pitaha'- 

tcikmi, 'trap' or 'entangler'). 



INDIAN NOTES 



V. :\IEAXS OF TR.\NSPORTATIOX 

SIGNS AXD SUPERSTITIONS OF THE 
TR.\IL 



^TT^ HE TRAIL and the lake or the river 

^^ ^vere par excellence the Indian 

^^1 highways. The trail, as has been 
mentioned previously, was once 
systematically blazed in times of peace. 
But at all times it had its perils, from wild 
animals, from lurking foes, or from those 
creatures of the imagination which take 
shape from the fear of the unknown. A 
journey, to a barbaric people, was an occa- 
sion of prayer to the deities. 

A Belief in Ghosts 

While traveling at night Indians some- 
times see, meet, or are followed by ghosts. 
The spirits may attempt to force the Indi- 
ans to accompany them as they roam about, 
but this can be prevented by tearing off a 
piece of a rag, or even of one's clothes, burn- 



209 



AXD M 0X0 GRAPHS 



210 


M EN MINI CULTURE 


. 


ing it to ashes and rubbing these on the fore- 
head. The smell of the ashes is not ob- 
noxious to the spirits, but makes them think 
any one with this odor is one of themselves, 
and they accordingly leave him alone. 

It is said that when a mother who has a 
child that is as yet too young to talk is 
molested by a ghost, coming to steal away 
her babe, during the night, she may drive 
away the marauder in the same manner. 
If she has to travel after dark, she places 
the mark on the child before starting If 
these precautions are not taken, the child is 
sure to pine away and die within a year. 

Pabokowa'o 

Pahokowd'o (plural pahokowa wiik) , mean- 
ing "intermittent noise," are a kind of 
spirits that dwell in lonely places and 
frighten travelers by their eerie cries. 
They were not further described by the 
elders, but I am inclined to identify them 
with the eastern Ojibwa or INlississauga gob- 
lin Pahokowai, who seems to have been rep- 
resented in ceremonies by a false- face, or 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




m^S 





m b 



i 



SNOWSHOES 




II 

en 

u <, 

< .y 

o S 

?! 

UJ "o 

-J >. 

Q ^ 
< 3 

O) O 






TRAVEL 



mask, of carved wood, similar to that 
employed by the Iroquois. The false-face 
represents the god that banishes disease. 
Though mentioned and figured by the Rev. 
Peter Jones in his History of the Ojebway 
Indians, explanatory data are lacking. It 
was collected later by Mr M. R. Harrington 
for the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, and is again figured and described in 
his Religion and Ceremonies of the Lenape 
Indians, in this series. 

EQUIPAGE 
The article of manufacture most indis- 
pensable for overland travel has already 
been described in the section on JMenomini 
dress. The native moccasin was more im- 
portant, to the Woodland Indian especialh^ 
than the acquired European horse; for most 
of his journeys were made on foot. But in 
winter, when the forest trail gave place to 
the untracked, drifted snow, and river and 
lake were frozen, in addition to the moccasin 
t-he snowshoe was donned. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



211 



212 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Snowshoes 

Four types of snowshoes are recognized 
and made by the Menomini. They are 
called pointed or kaka'^^kikwukemilk; cat- 
fish-shape or wase'iiwakemilk (pi. xli) ; oval 
or "bear's-foot"-shape (generally used only 
as a makeshift, and made of a rough net 
of basswood-bark over a hastily prepared 
framework) known as waive' dtukima'tiuk; 
and "knee-shape" or oki'kwunukenmk, so 
called because the forward end is supposed 
to conform with the transverse outline of the 
doubled knee. The generic term for snow- 
shoes is a'kemiik: 

Horse Trappings 

At the present time the Menomini do not 
use toboggans, sledges, or travoix. The 
horse has long been accessible to the tribe, 
and while they have developed its culture 
less than any of the other Central peoples, 
still they have acquired a number of its 
more widely distributed features. Pack- 
saddles made of wood covered with rawhide 
of buffalo or of cattle are common. Some- 
times the pommel is carved to represent the 




INDIAN NOTES 



EQUIPAGE 



head of a horse (pi. xlii) or a woodchuck. 
The Indians also delight in adorning these 
saddles with brass-headed tacks. 

For bridles, a short rope twisted around 
the lower jaw of the steed is said to have 
sufficed. I have never seen the Menomini 
use or possess any true saddle-bags. Be- 
longings to be transported are usually 
packed in yarn bags, tied to the pack-saddle. 
Sometimes a saddle-blanket is improvised by 
cutting a large yarn bag open at the ends, 
and spreading it out. A horse is called 
pdskigo'kesi" Csuigle hoof) in Menomini, a 
name possibly derived from the term used by 
the neighboring bands of Potawatomi and 
Ojibwa. 

BURDEN-STR-\PS 

Burden-straps, but not burden baskets, 
are used by the Menomini. The burden- 
strap consists of a piece of heavy tanned 
leather, about two feet long and three or 
four inches broad, which is intended to run 
across the forehead or the chest. To this 
strap, which bears the strain, a thong is 
fastened at each end. These thongs, each 



213 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



214 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



alDout six feet in length, are intended for 
lashing about the burden. Straps of this 
nature among the Menomini and their 
northern Algonkian neighbors are strictly 
utilitarian, and are never in any way orna- 
mented, in contrast with those of the Dela- 
ware and the Iroquoian tribes. An example 
in the writer's possession, once the property 
of the famous chief Oshkosh, is as unattrac- 
tive as any owned by the poorest of his fol- 
lowers. The native name for a burden- 
strap is ape'^'kon. 

Cradles 

A child's carrying-board or cradle (tike'- 
nagun) is shown in pi. XLni, and in pi. 
XLiv a woman in the act of carrying a child 
on her back in a similar contrivance. So 
well known and widely distributed among 
the Woodland tribes is this portable cradle 
that it needs no detailed description here. 
The Menomini form consists of a board 
back, with shallow detachable sides and a 
foot-rest. A wooden bow projects over the 
head to support a shade or canopy and to 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




CARRYING A CHILD IN A CRADLE 



CRADLES 


215 


prevent injury to the baby in case the cradle 
should fall. 

The child is held fast by wrapping or tying 
its little body in with a long strip of cloth, 
the outer side of which usually bears beaded 
decorations (pi. lxxviii, b) . From the bow in 
front are suspended strings of beads, bells, 
thimbles, and if the child is a boy, miniature 
weapons. For a girl, a doll, a wooden spoon 
or similar articles are substituted. 

When not carried by its mother, the baby, 
cradle and all, may be suspended from a 
rafter or the bough of a tree, or leaned 
against a bench, a stone, or some convenient 
stump. The child usually remains on the 
cradle-board until at least two years of age, 
not only for convenience in transportation, 
but for the purpose of making the back 
straight. Little girls can often be seen 
with toy cradles of this sort, containing 
their dolls, (For further details concerning 
children and their care, the reader is re- 
ferred to the writer's paper on Social Life 
and Ceremonial Bundles of the ]\lenomini 
Lidians.i2) 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





216 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




CANOES 

For water transportation, canoes are used. 
These are of two types, the log canoe, or 
me'tigos, which is still used, and the now 
obsolete birch-bark canoe, which is termed 
wiki'hos. The last birch-bark canoe to be 
found in the tribe was collected by the 
writer in 1910 for the American Museum of 
Natural History, where it is now preserved 
(pi. XLVi) . It was carried by its owner from 
his home to Keshena, a distance of several 
miles, and on account of its lightness, neces- 
sitated no stops for rest (pi. xlv). It is 
related by the elders that elm-bark canoes 
{ane'pos) were once used. 

Birch-bark Canoes 

The making of a birch-bark canoe was a 
laborious process, usually accompHshed by a 
group of several families, who held a boat- 
building "bee," late spring being the season 
usually chosen. After meeting and making 
the camp, the men of the party set out in 
the early morning to select suitable birch 
trees and gather the bark, which was re- 
moved in sections four feet long by three 




INDIAN NOTES 



BARK CANOES 



to four feet broad, cut as nearly square as 
possible. This task sometimes required as 
much as two days, for several trees of the 
proper size had to be found, and these were 
not common. The bark also had to be 
thick, and the trees straight with few limbs. 
When a birch that had all these qualifica- 
tions was located, the direction in which it 
was desirable to fell it was decided on. 
Other trees were then cut to fall at right 
angles across the field where it was to He. 
The birch was -felled across and on them, 
that it might be elevated from the ground 
and the bark thus more easily stripped from 
it. Bark sufficient to cover a canoe of aver- 
age size, that is, at least four "armspreads" 
long, was required. This unit of measure- 
ment, called niku'tina in the vernacular, is 
the distance between the outstretched fin- 
gertips of the right and the left hands, when 
the arms are held out horizontally. When 
the bark was brought back by the men, the 
women took a large kettle and poured boil- 
ing water on it to soften it. It was then 
rolled up in large packages to be stored in 
the shade until needed. Possiblv mv in- 



217 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



218 



:\IEN0MINI CULTURE 



formant, the late Indian Court Judge John 
Perrote, who had not assisted in canoe mak- 
ing since he hved at Fond du Lac on Lake 
Winnebago before the lAIenomini went on 
their present reservation, may have erred 
in this last detail. Birch-bark is more 
easily rendered pliable by heating before the 
fire than by wetting. 

During the first day, while the men were 
gathering bark, the women emploved them- 
selves in collecting stringy pine-roots (wa- 
ta'p), which they spht, made into coils, and 
placed in water to soak. The next morning 
the men again repaired to the woods, this 
time to search for cedar from which to make 
the framework of the canoe. A tree having 
been selected and felled, it was spht and 
examined to see if the grain was straight; 
if not, another had to be found. From this 
wood the thin lath-Hke inner sheathing for 
the canoe (pi. xlvi, h) was made. These 
strips, called ana'kianuk C^mats"), but 
with the animate plural sufiix, were cut 
very thin, ahnost like paper, and were made 
in ten-foot lengths, and from three to four 



INDIAN NOTES 



OS 

Is 

o .y 

CO ^ 
O o 



BARK CANOES 


219 


fingers broad. Cross-ribs, called pekd'kunfik 
C'ribs"), were also made. 

While the men cut out the sheathing and 
the framework, a task which lasted a day or 
more, the women, beginning in the after- 
noon, sewed the sections of bark together. 
Two women sat on the ground facing each 
other, with two sections of bark between 
them. Lapping the ends of the pieces over, 
one woman made holes through the bark 
with an awl of bone or of metal, at short 
regular intervals, while the other pushed the 
flexible wata'p thread through the perfora- 
tions. When the sections were sewed across, 
both pulled vigorously to straighten them. 

The day after the men returned with the 
cedar, they took an old canoe, and, using 
it as a pattern, drove stakes in the ground 
around it, to make a structure of the same 
shape as the boat. These falsework stakes 
are called je'pata'iwun ("elevated tie 
stakes"). Around the inside of the top the 
gunwale {minak, "frame") was attached. 
This part of the work had to be completed 
by noon, so that the canoe could be finished 
by- dark ; otherwise the bark warped. Along 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





220 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



the gunwale six or more places were marked 
for attaching thwarts. These were three or 
four feet apart in the case of the larger lake- 
going canoes, and less for ordinary craft, or 
for the diminutive one-man variety. 

Broad thwarts were made for the center 
portions, narrow ones for the ends, but 
these were temporarily supplied by false 
cross-pieces, while temporary ribs were 
added. Now eight men went to work on 
the frame, four at the bow, and four at the 
stern. The bark covering, sewed in a single 
sheet, was passed under the frame with 
great care, and smoothly shaped. Then it 
was sewn fast to the gunwale with wata'p. 
The cross-ribs, three or four fingers broad, 
were soaked in hot water to soften them,' 
and were then laid in, about eighteen inches 
apart (pi. xlvi, h). These were called 
mitcimi'skotcinanak, "holding down" or 
"holding out pieces." The temporary ribs 
and thwarts were next removed, and real 
thwarts were sewed in. Perhaps at this 
stage thin, flat, oval boards were inserted as 
spreaders, set perpendicularly in the bow 
and the stern of the canoe to hold out the 



INDIAN NOTES 




BARK CANOES 


221 


bark. The tops of these projecting above 
the gunwales were ornamentally carved. 
The bow and the stern, which were left to 
the last, were next sewed by the women, 
with great care, and the rough edges were 
trimmed with a knife. The upturned tips 
at both ends were not yet attached, but it 
was imperative that the work up to this 
point he completed without stopping, lest 
the bark warp. 

Next day the inner sheathing was put in, 
pieces of three fingers' width alternating 
with those of four fingers. As usual, these 
were first wet with hot water to render 
them flexible. They are said to have been 
difficult to adjust at the noses, where they 
came together, as they often cracked. 
Cracked sheathing was discarded and new 
selected. The sheathing was sometimes 
made double. 

The following day the women arose early 
to see that the seams were calked before 
the dawn wind should scatter coals and 
sparks from the fires over which they boiled 
their gum, as birch-bark is highly inflam- 
mable. The noses were first sewed to the 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





222 



M E N O M I N I CULTURE 



body of the canoe with colored 
wata'p. The canoe then was 
taken from its frame and in- 
verted. The seams were cover- 
ed with narrow strips of liber 
or of cloth, and the gum of pitch 
{andmimita'wuk) , colored black 
with birch-bark charcoal for 
ornamental efTect, was used to 
calk them. A small wooden 
paddle was utilized to apply 
the pitch, which could not be 
laid on until cooled enough not 
to burn the bark. 

Sometimes men painted eyes 
on the bow and the stern of the 
canoe so that it "could see 
where to go," or added some 
fancy device. With this, the 
craft was completed (pi. xlvi, 
a). 

Log Canoes 

Fig 15- ^^^ canoes (pi. XLVii) are 
Typical canoe hollowcd with metallic adzes 
from basswood or cedar, and 



INDIAN NOTES 



'Wmm. 



^ 



=) r- 

O 5 
O --f 
3 d 

Q S 

(T = 

o a 

LlI b 
O £ 
2 < 

< y 

o ^ 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 





CUTTING THE HAIR FROM DEERSKIN 



LOG CANOES 



their making is also a tedious process, even 
with these improved implements. For 
further details as to canoes and their uses, 
the reader is referred to pages 185, 208, 
in the section on fishing and hunting. A 
typical paddle, 5^ ft. in length, is shown in 
fig. 15. 



223 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



224 



VI. HANDICRAFT 
TANNING 

Preparation of the Skin 



M J IN REMOVING furs the ]\Ienomini 
^ ^1 ^ ^ hunter commences when the car- 
cass of the animal is yet warm, 
if possible, by cutting the skin 
along the inside of the hind legs and across 
the anus, making a single transverse slit. 
The hind quarters and the tail are first 
skinned, the work then proceeding toward 
the head. When removed, the skin is 
turned inside out and stretched over a 
wooden frame. 

In skinning large mammals, such as deer, 
elk, moose, and buffalo, when possible a 
quantity of grass or hay is first spread on 
the ground to keep the carcass from contact 
with the earth. Cuts are made around the 
knee-joints of all four legs. The inner sur- 
faces of the hind quarters are then cut along 
a transverse line which crosses the anus; a 



INDIAN NOTES 



TANNING 



similar cut is made under the forelegs and 
across the breast, and a third from the 
point of the lower jaw longitudinally down 
neck and belly to the anus. 

In removing the hide the knife is little 
used after the initial cutting is finished, 
except for taking off the thick skin of the 
neck. The hide is loosened by thrusting 
the fist between it and the flesh, or, on the 
neck, by tugging with both hands while 
bracing against the carcass with the feet. 
As above noted, this work is most easily 
accomphshed while the animal is- still 
warm. 

Taxxixg Fur 
For tanning skins with the hair on, the 
skin is first scraped. The brains and liver 
of the animal are then applied to the inner 
or fleshy surface of the green hide, and 
worked in with the hands until the entire 
skin is saturated. The pelt is then warmed 
before the fire and softened by rubbing 
with a small tool of wood or of bone. 
Herbs and roots are also sometimes ap- 
pHed, in solution, to render the fur proof 
against moths. 



225 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



226 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Leather Making 

In tanning deerskin without the hair, the 
green hide may be treated at once, or al- 
lowed to dry hard and wait indefinitely. 
In the latter case, it is necessary first to 
soak the skin until it is pliable,' after which 
it is hung over the smoothed upper end of a 
log set obliquely into the ground, so that 
the raised end is about waist-high. 

The hair is then cut down to about a 
quarter of an inch in length by means of a 
sharp knife (pi. xlviii) and the hide is again 
soaked, usually over night. The next step 
brings the hide back to the slanting log 
(pi. XLix), where both the hah: and the 
subcutaneous tissue are scraped ofif with 
an edged implement, shaped like a draw- 
shave, and called a "beaming tool" (fig. 16). 
At present these implements are of wood, 
provided with a metallic blade, but in 
former times they were made from cannon- 
bones of deer. The example figured is 
15 in. long. 

The hide is next washed, wrung out, and 
stretched on a rectangular wooden frame by 




INDIAN NOTES 



;KINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




WRINGING THE DEERSKIN 



LEATHER 



means of leather thongs, or cords woven of 
basswood fiber, and tightened by wooden 
pegs, or, more usually, by the unworked 
toe-bones of the black bear, used as tourni- 
quets. Both sides of the skin are now 
carefully rubbed and saturated with a mix- 
ture of deer's brains applied with the 
hands. 

The skin is next soaked in a tub contain- 
ing a small quantity of water. It is then 



Fig. 16.-Beaming tool for scraping deerskin. (Lennh 
lo in.) ° ' 

wound around a small sapling and wrung 
dry by twisting it with a stick about three 
feet in length (pi. l). This is followed bv 
workmg and stretching it with the hands 
and feet (pi. li), after which it is washed 
m clean, fresh water. 

The hide is next stretched again on the 
frame with strings and pegs, and is rubbed 
vigorously with a spatula of hard wood, a 
yard or less in length, and is also scraped 
with a metal scraper of chisel-like form 



22: 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



228 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




This removes all the small particles of sub- 
cutaneous tissue that may remain, which 
are valuable as soup stock. Sometimes, if 
the skin has dried too rapidly, more water 
and brains must be applied. 

When the hide is at last soft, white, and 
pliable, it is sewed up in the form of a bag 
with wi'kop, or raw basswood string, and a 
stick is thrust inside transversely to keep it 
open. A hole about a foot wide and six 
inches deep is dug in the earth in a locality 
sheltered from the wind, and a slow, glowing, 
smoky fire is made in the bottom of the 
pit with dead branches, punk, or even dry 
corncobs. Over this the inverted bag is 
suspended (pi. lii), and pegged down about 
the base. Care must be tak-en to prevent 
the fire from blazing up and burning the 
hide, and also to prevent the smoke from 
becoming too thick, lest the skin be dark- 
ened too deeply. Shot holes are alwa>'s 
sewed up before the hide is smoked; other- 
wise the fumes escape through these ori- 
fices, and the tanning is uneven. 

Deerskins are not all alike in quahty. 
Buckskin is thick, and is suitable for mocca- 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 





STRETCHING THE DEERSKIN BY HAND 




J 



TANNING -TERMS 



sins and mittens. Doeskin is best for leg- 
gings and shirts, while fawnskin is utilized 
for fancy work. Skins of unborn fawns 
are dehcate, and require much care in their 
preparation. They are used as inner 
wrappers for war-bundles and other sacred 
articJes. All deerskins are at their prime 
m the fall. Tanned skins were considered 
less valuable in the old days, if the tail 
with its fur had been removed. 

Vocabulary 

A pa" SOS o'Hm, deer-hide. 

kikau'a'nukdsiu, fresh hide with the hair adher- 
ing. 
tcisa'kunVnkun, beaming tool, or dehairer 

port the hide during the dehairing process. 
nasiko hkun, wooden spatula, a flesher 
osusa'wikisua, the smoking process 
omdnite, deer's brains, used in tanning 
mmatuku'nun, stretching cords for spreading 

the skin to dry. ^ 

o'ka'nuk smina'si'i, pegs used to tighten the 

stretching cords, usually bones from the 

feet of the black bear. 
mettkii'u'n mina'tcukunm, stretching frame 
osaii'i ksiia, tanned skin. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



229 



230 


MEXOMIXI CULTURE 




WEAVING 

Tt is truly astonishing that the ability of 
the Woodland tribes in the matter of textile 
arts has been so little recognized by stu 
dents. The cleverness displayed by the 
^lenomini in these crafts is no doubt not 
greater than that of their Algonkian and 
Siouan neighbors, yet little has been re- 
corded of it, outside of some casual and 
often incorrect notes published by ]\Iason 
and others. In view of the fact that ]\Ir 
William C. Orchard of the Museum of the 
American Indian, Heye Foundation, has in 
mind a monograph which will cover the sub- 
ject, nothing more has been done in the 
course of preparing this paper than to indi- 
cate some, by no means all, of the technics 
employed. Had the variety and complica- 
tion of the textile art as it exists among the 
Menomini tribe been fully realized, no doubt 
more examples of their weaving might have 
been obtained in the field. The writer is in- 
debted to Mr Orchard for the identification 
and the descriptions of the technics em- 
ployed in the specimens used for illustration. 




INDIAN NOTES 




□Q p 
2 I 

q: ^ 

< u 

< c? 
o -^ 

?^ 

^ I 
2 5 

< -3 

o - 





ja^Hi^Ei.*., 




04 



5 ^ 

ui " 
2 ::: 



W E A \^ I N G 


231 


Wo\XN Bags 

String bags woven of vegetal fiber and 
of the types so well known among the Cen- 
tral Algonkian and Southern Siouan tribes, 
were formerly possessions of every ^Menomini 
household, but are now rapidly becoming 
obsolete. The few that still exist are kept 
for the purpose of preserving sacred ob- 
jects, and are generally made of modern 
commercial yarn. There are others, how- 
ever, utilized for hulling corn, or for stor- 
ing wild rice, which are more aboriginal in 
material. 

The ordinary yarn storage-bag is woven 
between a frame of two sticks set vertically 
in the ground. The work is commenced 
at the upper edge, and the receptacle is 
woven downward (pi. Lin). This seems 
to have been the usual method employed 
throughout the woodlands. Oddly enough, 
the picture of a \'irginia Indian woman 
given by Mason in fig. 148 of his monograph, 
Aboriginal American Basketry, and cited 
several times as illustrating an ancient style 
of weaving from the bottom upward, clearly 




AND .AIOXO GRAPHS 





232 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




exemplifies the reverse of this process. The 
latter method is brought out also in the 
photographs reproduced in this paper. 

The ancient materials used in weaving 
were bast string, yarn of buffalo wool, later 
displaced by blanket ravelings, and, in the 
case of bags for hulling corn or for storage 
(of dift'erent types from pouches) cedar- 
bark, and Indian hemp made of rotted 
nettle-fiber. 

With regard to the technic employed in 
the weaving of Menomini storage-bags and 
pouches of basswood- or slippery-elm-bark 
fiber, an excellent description may be found 
in Aboriginal American Basketry. ]\Iason 
says : 

"Plate 131 represents an open twined wallet 
of the Ojibwa Indians (Algonquian stock), at 
Angwassag Village, near St. Charles, Saginaw 
County, JNIichigan. The native name is Na 
IVIoot and it is made from the inner bark of the 
slippery elm {Ulmus Americana). Other bags 
of. the same technique in the U. S. National 
Museum are from the elm bark associated with 
red and black yarn. The technic of these 
wallets is so interesting in the survival of an- 
cient weaves that they justify a special descrip- 
tion. The weft is plain twined weaving; all 
the ornamentation, therefore, is effected by 




INDIAN NOTES 



STORAGE BAGS 



233 



means of the warp, which is partly vertical, 
but more of the zigzag type seen in many Aleu- 
tian Island wallets. In all of the specimens 
examined the warp is made up of twine, partly 
in the materials of the weft and partly in colored 
yarns. The diameter of the warp twine, espe- 
cially the 3'arns, seems to be greater than the 
length of the twists in the weft, so that there 
is a crowding which brings one color to the 
front, and leaves another color inside — that is, 
the figures that are brown on the outside will 
appear in yarn on the inside and the reverse. 
To be more explicit, beginning at the lower edge 
of any one of these wallets the warp ma 3' be 
in pairs, the elements of which separate and 
come together alternately in the ro\ys of weav- 
ing. On the outside of the bag two elm-bark 
warp strands will be included and appear; in 
the next half twine two yarns will be included 
and show on the inside of the wallet. After 
this zigzag process goes on for a short distance 
the weaver changes her plan, omits the bark or 
the yarn warp altogether, but continues the 
twining process, catching the warp in every 
other half turn of the twine. Again, there will 
be a row or two of ordinary twined weaving 
with straight warp, when she returns to her 
zigzag method, covering the entire surface 
therewith. At the top of the bag an inch or 
less of plain twined weaving in which the warps 
are vertical and included in pairs brings her to 
the outer border, wlere all the warps are twisted 
together and turned back to be fastened off in 

the texture 

''The photographs of the twined bag shown 
in Plate 131 were taken by William Orchard, of 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



234 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




the American ^Museum of Natural History, and 
presented to the National Museum by Harlan 
I. Smith. On one side a mountain lion and on 
the other an eagle with geometric figures are 
sho\Mi in black. The technique of this par- 
ticular example from left to right would be five 
vertical rows of plain twined weaving; nine 
rows of mixed warp, but plain weaving; a course 
of braided warp in which the four elements of 
two rows of warp are braided together and 
included in the twine. On the other side is a 
similar administration. The middle portion 
shows zigzag twined weaving, figured. Above 
this is a row of three-ply twined weaving, as 
among many of the western tribes; above this 
three rows of plain twined weaving in openwork 
including all the warps. At the top the warps 
are twisted and fastened into the texture. It 
must be clearly understood that the figures 
which show black on the outside — that is, the 
eagle and the lion— will be white on the inside, 
necessarily." ^3 

This type of weaving is the commonest 
among the Menomini, and bags of this kind 
have been seen by the writer among the 
Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, 
Miami, Winnebago, Iowa, the "Santee" 
bands of the Dakota, and elsewhere. 

An example of a variety of closed twined 
weave is shown in pi. liv, a. In this bag 
the warp-threads are of twisted basswood 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER MENOMINI CULTURE 






~ --T- ^ ^ .<^ jS? ^ ^' . 




BAG OF TWINED AND DIAGONAL TWINED WEAVING. OBVERSE 

AND REVERSE 

Width. 18 in. 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




j^^^fi^stB^ii 




WOVEN BAGS FOR STORAGE PURPOSES 
Width, 23i in. 



TWINED WEAVING 


235 


fiber, and the woof of various colored yarns. 
The method of weaving the design, which is 
of parallel horizontal groups of alternating 
concave and convex scallops, alternating in 
turn with plain straight bands, is compH- 
cated. For a description of the methods 
employed in the making of this and other 
bags figured here, the writer is indebted to 
the kindness of ]\Ir William C. Orchard. 

In the scalloped bands, the first line of 
the woof is a double strand of yarn brought 
across the figure from right to left, looping 
about each element of the warp as it passes 
and crossing between each warp strand. It 
crosses the figure and then the woof strands 
return. At the last turn before going back, 
they are twisted together and then divided 
in two parts, each half looping back singly 
in the opposite direction from that taken 
in the first course. This is done alternately 
until the figure is finished. 

The plain horizontal bands are made by a 
simple, closely twined, horizontal weave, the 
woof yarns being in two or three strands. 
A third type of twined weave is found on 
the border. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





I3b 



^I E X :^I I N I C V L T V R E 



A very remarkable piece of textile work 
well illustrating the resourcefulness of the 
^lenomini artizan, is shown in pi. lv, in 
which ]\rr Orchard has been able to identify 
no fewer than six varieties of twined and 
diagonal twined weaving. 

In pi. LM, (7, is shown a bag of basswood 
or cedar-bark tiber intended for storage 
purposes. It is made in a closely twined 
weave, and is a model of simplicity in 
technic. The woof-strands occur at inter- 
vals of about three-quarters of an inch 
apart, and the main body of the work is in 
the heavy, closely-pkiced warp. Bags 
woven in checkerwork from narrow strips 
of cedar-bark (pi. l\"i. h) are also used for 
the same purpose. I have never seen one 
of these that bore an ornamental design. 
In former years cedar-bark strips were 
woven into mats in the same manner as 
that in which these bags were made, but 
they are now obsolete. Formerly some 
handsome mats were made in twilled weav- 
ing (see HofYman's pi. xxii).^"' Like the 
checkerwork mats, none have been seen 
for manv \ears. 



IXDIAX XOTES 



H U L L I X G - B A G S 


237 


HULLING-BAGS 

Two bags of cedar-bark fiber are shown 
in pi. Liv, h, c. These are designed to hold 
corn while it is being soaked to cleanse it 
after boiling in a solution of lye (hard-wood 
ashes) and water to loosen the hulls from 
the kernels. The technic of these bags is 
open twining. A fine example is figured in 
pi. LIV, c, which illustrates a hulHng-bag of 
open twined weave in which the rows are 
alternated in uneven groups to make a 
decorative pattern. This is accompHshed 
by crossing some sets of warp strands and 
leaving the next group parallel. At the top 
the warp threads are collected in groups of 
three and then braided together with the 
addition of some fiber to thicken the border. 
In the specimen under discussion the styles 
of weaving alternate in rows of two until 
near the top, where they run one row of 
each type for four rows, finished by two 
rows of parallel warp elements at the 
upper edge. 

A second example of hulling-bag is pre- 
sented in pi. Liv, h. This specimen is also 




AXD MONOGRAPHS 





238 



M EN O MINI CULTURE 



made in open twined weaving in a manner 
similar to the preceding save that all the 
warp elements are crossed except the top 
row on one side, and the two top rows on the 
other — the discrepancy being caused by 
the fact that the bag is woven spirally. 

Yarn Sashes 

Sashes, pa^'ku'uwute (belt), are braided by 
hand in several styles. While colored yarns 
are now used for this purpose, bast may 
have been used in earlier days, and, when 
procurable, the wool of the buffalo. PL lvii, 
a, b, from field photographs by Dr S. A. 
Barrett, give a good idea of the process. 
Such sashes are worn by men around the 
waist, or across the shoulders, or are bound 
turban-wise about the brows. Women use 
small sashes as belts to hold up their skirts. 

^lATS 
Reed ]Mats 

A certain species of reed, called by the 
Indian hi'iiskiin, furnishes material for the 
mats used as covering for floor or bench, and 
for hanging on the inner wall of the lodge. 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




WEAVING YARN SASHES 
Photographs by courtesy of the Public Museum, Milwaukee 



REED MATS 


239 


These mats are termed ana'kiaii (plural. 
ana'kiauiin), and are made as follows: 

The reeds grow in shallows where the 
water is two or three feet deep, and on sand- 
bars. They are ripe in June and July, 
when parties of women gather them in the 
same way in which they do cattails, wading 
out and thrusting their hands into the water 
in order to pull them up near the roots. 
The women select stalks evenly matched as 
to length and thickness, and fine or coarse 
according to the desired quahty of the mat. 
They carry ashore the bundles of reeds 
that they have gathered and trim the' ends 
roughly on the spot. The reeds are then 
taken home and thoroughly dried in the sun. 

\\'hen dry, the stalks are taken in small 
quantities and tied on a board, one end of 
which is laid over a cross-piece supported 
by two uprights, the other end being placed 
in a kettle. Over the reeds is thrown, at 
intervals, a quantity of boiling water, until 
they are entirely scalded; a fact which can 
.readily be noted as they change in color. 
The board then receives a fresh lot. After 
all the reeds are scalded they are drained 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





240 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




and again dried in the sun. They are much 
lighter in weight at the end of this process, 
and the worker ties them in bunches and 
stores them away in a place safe from mice 
and squirrels to await dyeing. 

In preparation for this, the reeds are 
sorted and counted, so many for each shade, 
according to the design desired; the woman 
having previously calculated how many of 
each are needed to work out her pattern. 
They are first wet to render them pliable, 
and are then tied in round coils and boiled, 
each in its appropriate dye, after which 
they are left to soak all night that the color 
may saturate them and become set. To 
facilitate this they are weighted down be- 
neath the surface of the liquid. In the 
morning the reeds are taken out, straight- 
ened, dried, and stored away. 

For the weaving a frame is made by 
driving two uprights into the ground six 
or eight or more feet apart, and lashing a 
horizontal bar to their tops with wi'kop. 
The reeds are then braided to form the 
upper edge of the mat, and, in doing this, a 
certain number of stalks is counted off here 




INDIAN NOTES 



REED MATS 


241 


and there to work out the design. The 
braided upper edge is now attached be- 
neath the horizontal bar. The reeds are 
then pulled and twisted until they overlap, 
and the process of plaiting them together, 
backward and forward and from end to 
end, from the top downward is commenced 
(pi. LViii). Sometimes several women w^ork 
at once, each having previous knowledge 
of the proposed design. Because the reeds 
continually dry out as the work progresses, 
and become stiff and brittle, the women 
occasionally squirt a mouthful of water 
over them, just as a Chinese laundryman 
does to moisten his ironing. At the end 
of their task the border at the bottom is 
hemmed, and the rough ends are evened, 
doubled over, and a string sewn through 
them to hold them down. 

The designs on reed mats are generally 
geometric, but I have twice seen small ones 
used for wrapping war-bundles on which 
were woven conventional figures of the 
Thunderers. Old Menommi. tell me that in 
former years those who had dreamed of 
various mythical monsters, such as the 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





242 


M E N M INI CULTURE 




Underneath Panther, sometimes wove their 
conventionaHzed shapes on mats. There is 
an example of this sort in the collection of 
this Museum, obtained by Mr M. R. Har- 
rington among the Sauk and Fox. One mat 
of conventional floral design was secured 
from John Amob, by whose late wife it was 
made (pi. lx). The ornamentation is a rare 
one, which the writer has never seen dupli- 
cated. Amob used this article as a decora- 
tive hanging in his cabin, for handsome 
mats are thus employed even more fre- 
quently than as coverings for floor or bench. 
The old time checker and twilled weave 
mats of cedar-bark strips, now a thing of 
the past, were utilized in a similar manner. 
Unfortunately, as is the case with the 
pouches of woven yarn or of string, it has 
never been realized how many ingenious 
and often complicated styles and technics 
of weaving may be found among the mats of 
the Menomini and the other Central tribes, 
so that an insufficient number of examples 
are at hand for study. However, out of 
three specimens in the collection of the 
Museum of the American Indian, Heye 




INDIAN NOTES 



^mm^^ m. 







< ^ 



cc S 

UJ ^ 
Q 

Z) 

Q 

< 




^wii 






REED .MATS 



Foundation, ]\Ir William C. Orchard was 
able to identify two different technics. 

Two mats, one of which is shown in pi. 
Lix, are made in diagonal weave, with 
double or linked diamond design, the weave 
being selected apparently to facilitate the 
shaping of the pattern. This is doubtless a 
common type judging by other examples 
seen in the possession of the natives. 

The other technic is a simple over-and- 
under vertical weave, as shown in pi. lx. 
The weft, as usual, is of bast, and the warp 
is of reeds. The broad, interlocked, ser- 
rated bands of decoration are formed by 
crossing the plain weft over the colored 
reeds, thus concealing them at intervals. 
The floral and geometric designs, in open 
work, not before noted by the writer on 
any specimen, are begun and ended at the 
opposing borders as weaving, but after 
running under the white background for 
two or three inches, are continued as em- 
broidery. In considering these mats, it 
must be remembered that the weaver uses 
no tools. 



243 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



244 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




:\Iats for Covering Houses 

As has already been remarked, the typi- 
cal winter wigwam of the IMenomini was 
semi-globular in shape, and was covered with 
mats made of cattail-flags. In the Me- 
nomini tongue the name for cattail is 
u'pa^kiiik, and thence the meaning has 
been extended to the mats, and finally to 
the lodges themselves, in popular parlance, 
although these are more correctly called 
upa'^'kiwiko'iuik, or "cattail-flag houses." 

The work of preparing the mats is done 
entirely by the women, who gather the flags 
in the fall, during the months of October and 
November. In small companies they pro- 
ceed to the sloughs, lake borders, and sink- 
holes, where the cattails grow. Although 
the Indians firmly beheve that the presence 
of this plant always betrays the lair of a 
horned hairy snake beneath the water, the 
women bravely paddle out in their canoes, 
or wade in and pick the rushes, breaking 
them oft' under the surface close to their, 
roots, where the plants are white and tender. 

When sufficient flags have been collected, 




INDIAN NOTES 



H U S E . M A T S 


245 


the gatherers go ashore and build a fire, 
around which they sit and trim them, 
cutting off the thick part of each near the 
base, and the narrow tips. The trimmed 
stalks are then carried home, and, when 
the weather is fine, are spread out to dry in 
the sun, after which they are laid away 
until it is convenient to make them into 
mats. 

Before the reeds are ready for this final 
process, the outer rind must be peeled off, 
and the stalks again trimmed until they are 
of even length. The proper number are 
selected for the mat required, and are laid 
on the floor or on level ground in a row, 
side by side, with the ends reversed alter- 
nately. The ends on one side are then 
braided together over a cord of basswood- 
bark fiber. The worker next threads her 
bone mat-needle, a curved, flat instrument 
about a foot in length and half an inch in 
breadth, made of the rib of a buffalo or a 
cow (fig. 17), and sews the flags together. 
The thread is the customary basswood 
cord, and the sewing is begun about five or 
six inches from the braided ends of the 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





246 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



rushes and carried across. 
It is repeated at intervals 
of the same distance until 
the entire mat is sewed. 
As roofing mats are always 
made double, in order to 
withstand rain and bad 
weather, the next proced- 
ure is to construct a 
second layer of flags. 
This is accomplished in 
the same way and the two 
layers are then braided 
together over a bark-cord 
foundation, along one side 
which has been left ragged 
for the purpose. In some 
cases sticks are tied or 
sewed across the ends to 
facilitate rolling up the 
mats for transportation. 
Cattail house-mats are 
made in several sizes, the 
Fig. 17.— Needles largest being intended to 

madeof theribsof the , , . . 

buffalo. (Length of cnclose the circumferencc 
' ' " '"■ of the lodge at its base. 



INDIAN NOTES 



BARK MATS 


247 


It is said that eight mats are required to 
roof the ordinary winter wig^vam, including 
the Httle mat which slides back and forth 
over the smoke-hole, and another small 
one which covers the door. The remaining 
six are wrapped about the frame, three to a 
side. 

Like everything else about the house, the 
mats are the peculiar property of the woman, 
and in traveling it is her duty to carry them, 
whereas it is the man's task to carry the 
clothes. Though bulky, the mats are not 
heavy. They are rolled up lengthwise, and 
the culinary utensils are placed inside. The 
whole is then made fast by lashings of 
wi'kop, or basswood-bark. The load is 
packed longitudinally on the woman's back, 
and is supported by means of two pack- 
straps, one around her waist, the other 
around her chest and shoulders. It projects 
far over her head, and gives her a remarkable 
appearance as she trudges along. 

Bark Mats 

Frequently alluded to in the foregoing 
paragraphs are mats made of strips of cedar- 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





248 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




bark woven in checker and twilled technic. 
These are now entirely obsolete, though 
still remembered, but were sometimes seen 
in Hoffman's day. This writer figures a 
handsome example in his monograph with 
the statement: 

"Plate XXII represents an entire specimen, 
while in plate xxiii a section only is shown. 
They are made of the inner bark of the cedar, 
cut in strips averaging half an inch in width. 
Some of the mats are nearly white, others are 
colored dark red, and sometimes black, with 
native vegetal dyes. The decoration is effec- 
tively produced in diamond and lozenge pat- 
terns, as well as in zigzag lines, both by color 
and by the weaving of the weft strips, the latter 
being accomplished. by taking up and dropping 
certain numbers of the warp strips." ^^ 

STRING 

For many purposes, especially for emer- 
gencies in the forest, the Indian turns to the 
basswood sapling to supply him with cord. 
While it is always easy to peel off the bark 
of this tree in long strips, it jdelds more 
readily in the spring, when quantities are 
gathered for future use. In lesser amounts, 
however, it can always be had at a mo- 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




ROLLING BARK FIBERS INTO TWINE 



STRING 



249 



ment's notice. Having stripped off a long 
piece of the bark, the Indian cuts the outer 
rind slightly, and bends the bark at the cut 
until the rind projects enough to give him a 
grip with his fingers, or, more commonly, 
with his teeth. He then pulls off the outer 
laver and discards it. The inner bark, 
which is pliable, is ready for use without 
further preparation, except splitting it down 
to the desired size (pi. lxi). This is the 
famous ui'kop, the rough-and-ready cord of 
the forest. The process described is called 
inokopd'keo ma'nikopi, "gathering bark." 

Balls of prepared twine made of cedar-, 
elm-, or basswood-bark are found in every 
well-regulated household, and are used for 
lashing, sewing, or as material for weaving 
bags. The manufacture of this twine is 
one of the duties of the women, who go to 
the woods and gather ui'kop in the manner 
described above. It is then made into coils, 
which are tied together to prevent unroll- 
ing, and taken home and boiled, some say 
with lye added to the water. The boiling 
process is finished when the fibers of the 
bark begin to separate and spread. It is 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



250 



MENOMINICULTURE 



then taken out and dried. When thor- 
oughly seasoned, it is cut into yard lengths 
and worked back and forth with the h^nds 
to break up the woody fibers and to detach 
them from one another. Sometimes this 
IS accomplished by rasping the cooked bark 
through the hole in the pelvic bone or a 
crotch m the scapula of a deer or a bear 
In this condition it is often stored away 
until convenient to proceed with the next 
step. 

In the evenings, when the familv gathers 
round the fire, is the favorite dme for 
twisting twine. The woman sits down 
pulls up her skirt, and removes one legging' 
She takes two of the fibers in one hand, and 
holds them, spread a few inches apart 
against her bare shin. She slides the palm 
of her other hand backward and forward 
over them until the fibers twist together 
(pl. Lxii). At the end of each vard she 
combs the fibers with her fingers, selects 
two more, and rolling half an inch of their 
ends with the ends of the old piece, makes a 
sphce so perfect that it is invisible. As 
the twine is made, it is wound into a ball 



INDIAN NOTES 



VARIETIES 



251 



until all the material has been used. The 
pelvic bone of a deer or a bear is then tied 
firmly to a wigwam pole or an upright 
stake, and the string rasped through to 
make it even. The finished twine is again 
carefully wound in balls and put away. 
Nettles are rotted in order to obt^n the 
.inner fiber which is made into twine for 
weaving bags. 

In addition to cords of vegetal substance, 
leather thongs are commonly utilized. A 
small piece of deerskin is taken and a nar- 
row strip cut round and round the edge in 
a continuous piece, until a long cord is 
obtained. 

Varieties of String 

Pa^ku'kian, basswood string, twisted, used 

principally for sewing bulrush mats. _ 
ivi'kop ka'kop, omi'hotdo, basswood-bark string, 

braided. , i , ., i i 

nu'ki kopi'tdo, basswood inner bark, boiled and 

shredded, ready to make into string. 
musku'ta pishd'ki"- u'e'na^min ond'hotdo, braided 

buffalo-hair string ox yarn. 
sd"nup, Indian hemp string. 
apd"sos o'kum kdko'pian, buckskin thong. 
apd"sos o'kum naprkivun, deerskin thong, cut 

fine, for sewing with an awl. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



252 


M E N M I N I CULTURE 




a^ta"^, or apa'sos a'^ta^, deer-sinew used as thread, 
a'^/a^ ona hotdo, braided deer-sinew. 

WOVEN BEADWORK 

The description of INIenomini beadwork- 
ing by Hoffman is well worth repeating 
here: 

"After deciding on the article to be worked — 
a garter, for example, — a frame of wood is 
made sufficiently large to extend from 4 to 6 
inches beyond the finished piece. Figure 45 
represents a frame of this character. The 
pieces of wood are usually of pine, 2 inches broad 
and from a half« to three-fourths of an inch 
thick, made rigid by screws or thongs, where 
the pieces intersect. Threads of linen are then 
wrapped vertically over the top and bottom, 
each thread being a bead's width from the next. 
In some instances, as will be referred to later, 
the threads are wrapped so as to run by pairs. 
These form the warp. The number of threads 
depends on the width of the proposed design. 

"The pattern is begun at the lower end, 
several inches from the frame. A fine needle 
is threaded, the other end of the fiber being 
secured to one of the lateral threads of the 
warp; then the needle is passed through a bead 
of the desired tint of the ground color of the 
garter, and the thread passed under one vertical 
or warp cord; another bead is then taken up, 
after which the needle is pushed along over 
the next cord; and then another bead being 
threaded, the needle is again passed along under 




INDIAN NOTES 




GARTERS OF Vl^, 
In the American Museum of Natural History, ) 




BEADWORK 

e courtesy this pholograph is reproduced 



WOVEN BEAD WORK 



253 



the next following cord, and so on al emately 
above and beneath the warp cords until the 
other side is reached, when the outer cord is 
merely inclosed bv one form. The same proe- 
ms is followed in the return to the side rom 
which the beginning was made, except that the 
rhteads alternate, the woof being now above 
instead of below the warp cords. Figure 40 
reore'^ents the process described. 
^''The chief difficulty which one encounters 
is in remembering the exact point at whjh a 
new pattern should appear, as the color of he 
bead required for this must be inserted at he 
proper time and the number of spaces care ull^ 
counted and reserved for use as the pattern s 
developed. When the design is completed, the 
warp-cords are gathered by bunches of two s or 
three's and tied in knots, so as to pre^vent the 
dislodgment of the woof fibers and the_ conse- 
quent destruction of the entire fabric To 
the^e ends are afterwards attached strands of 
woolen varn to lengthen the garter, so as to 
reach around the leg and admit of tying m a 

°''' The "above illustrates the simplest method 
of working beads. The type of beadworkmg 
shown in figure 47 is a little more comphcated 
In this there are two vertical warp cords or 
threads between each two beads, there being an 
alternate movement of the pair of warp cords 
backward and forward, thus makmg it sunilar 
in appearance to the preceding pattern, excludmg 
the beads, when the latter are placed sidewise 

''The woof thread is run to the side of the 
crarter, and a bead is then passed through and 
returned in the next upper space, where another 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



254 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



row of beads is taken up to continue the design. 
When the opposite border of the garter is 
reached, a single bead is again threaded and 
permitted to extend as a projection to guard the 
external warp threads agiinst injury. 

"A third variety of beadwork is effected by 
using the vertical warp cords as before, but 
instead of passing the threaded needle through 
one bead at a time, whenever a vertical thread 
is passed, the necessary number of beads re- 
quired to reach across the pattern, as well as 
the proper arrangement of colors to carry out 
the design, are threaded and laid down on the 
warp so that each bead falls within its proper 
space; then, as the lateral thread is inclosed by 
the weft thread, the needle is passed back 
through the same row of beads, but this time 
beneath the warp instead of above, thus en- 
tirely inclosing the weft. This requires a deli- 
cate needle and a fine though strong thread. 
This variety of beadwork is usually found only 
in garters, whereas the other two forms occur 
in almost all other kinds of bead objects, such 
as the sheets used"in making medicine bags, in 
collars, baldrics, belts, and narrow strips, the 
tM^o ends being fastened together by tying or 
otherwise. The cord itself is then decorated 
with beads by simply threading on a single 
fibre and wrapping this about the primary piece 
from one end to the other. By a little care in 
the proper selection and arrangement of colors, 
very pretty effects are produced. 

"Beads are stitched on clothing, moccasins, 
etc., by simply threading one or more beads on 
the needle and sewing them down along the 
outlines marked on the outside and afterward 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




BANDOLEER AND BAG OF WOVEN BEADWORK. AND BEADED 

BELT 

Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




BANDOLEER AND BAG OF WOVEN BEADWORK 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



W OVEN B E A D \\' O R K 



255 



the inside of the article which it is designed to 
ornament. 

''As a rule, the ends of the pieces of beadwork 
are at right angles to the direction of the warp, 
but in many small examples, such as collars or 
necklaces, the ends terminate diagonally, an 
effect produced by the successive rows contain- 
ing one or two beads less than the preceding 
row. the diagonal side being on one side of the 
article only, and not divided so as to turn 
toward a central apex b}- simultaneously leaving 
off one or more beads on both sides. 

"In the third variety of bead-weaving there 
are only single vertical threads between each 
two beads as in the first named, but the cross- 
threads forming the woof are double instead of 
single, and as the threads pass through the bead 
they diverge so as to inclose the warp, after 
which they again unite to pass through the 
next bead. The lateral edges of the garter rtiay 
be smooth or beaded — that is. the threads rnay 
either simply inclose the outside vertical thread 
and return to take up the next upper row of 
beads, or they may pass through one bead and 
then return on the next line. The object of the 
lateral beads, which project edgewise, is for 
the same purpose as that mentioned in con- 
nection with the second class of weaving. 

" Dance bags — so called because they are 
ornamental and worn chiefly by well-to-do 
Indians at dances — are made of a piece of cloth 
or buckskin about 15 inches square, from the 
two upper corners of which a continuous band 
or baldric, 4 or 5 inches broad, extends upward 
so as to pass over the shoulder opposite the side 
on which the bag is worn. The entire piece 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



256 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



of material is covered by a sheet of bead work, 
bearing designs similar to those on the garters, 
though frequently more elaborately combined 
or grouped. The flat part of the bag contains 
a very narrow slit for a pouch, the latter being 
often no larger than a vest pocket. 

"A medicine man considers himself fortunate 
if he owns one of these bags. The ordinary 
number worn by the mita'wok is three or four, 
part of them being worn at the left side, the 
others at the right. Sometimes a dozen such 
bags are worn by a single individual, beside 
other bead ornaments consisting of necklaces, 
breast-pieces, garters, armlets, etc., until the 
weight of the decorations causes him consider- 
able inconvenience in these prolonged cere- 
monies."^*^ 

DESIGNS 

Woven glass-bead belts, garters, bando- 
leers, and small pouches are made by the 
native women, and are among the most 
beautiful embellishments of this nature 
found among the Woodland Indians, being 
surpassed, if at all, only by those of the 
Winnebago. 

These articles were formerly adorned by 
the jMenoraini with somewhat convention- 
alized floral designs, often showing the 
double-curve motive found in quill and 
bead embroider}^ in which inward-turning 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




BANDOLEER AND BAG OF WOVEN BEADWORK 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




BEADED MEDICINE POUCH, SHOWING ANIMAL DESIGNS. 

OBVERSE AND REVERSE 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



DESIGNS 


257 


brackets enclose minor figures. In addition 
to these concepts, geometric motives, and 
rarely, conventional birds and animals or 
other realistic subjects are seen. Except 
in the latter case, in which the figures are 
made as prayers to the creatures which they 
represent, no symbolism is found in Meno- 
mini beadwork, the intention being purely 
esthetic. 

When held up to the light these handsome, 
symmetrically woven objects often give the 
effect of cathedral stained-glass windows. 
According to the statements of the Indians, 
which are wholly credible, this technic is a 
survival of an older type of work in woven 
porcupine-quills, a few specimens of which 
still survive in the tribe. 

Old pieces of Menomini handicraft may 
be distinguished from modern degenerate, 
or, properly, more realistic, floral designs 
introduced by the Ojibwa, for the old de- 
signs are highly conventionalized and the 
component units are smaller and broken. 
In addition, old pieces were made on the 
heddle, instead of on the modern rect- 




AND MONOGRAPHS 



258 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




angular frame loom, and are more firmly 
woven. 

There seems no limit to the variety of 
the designs, and pi. ixiii-LXXiv, and fig. 
18-22, show some of these, although the full 
effect of the colors and the lighting must be 
seen to be appreciated. Many of the mo- 
tives seem widely spread among the Cen- 
tral Algonkian and Southern Siouan tribes, 
but do not extend to the northerly Ojibwa; 
though common to some of the southerly 
bands of that tribe. 

It is notable that among the Sauk and 
Fox fruit forms seem more abundantly 
used then elsewhere, and for some curious 
reason these affiliated peoples do a large 
proportion of their work with black or dark- 
colored threads, which renders it somber 
and less pleasing. Among the Southern 
Siouans, not omitting the Winnebago, vari- 
ous star figures are popular, and some- 
what more idealistic designs are found 
than among the Menomini, a statement 
which also holds true of their embroidery. 

An antique pair of bead garters, the mo- 
tive of which is the Thunderbird, may be 




INDIAN NOTES 







n 

w Si 
en 3 

^^ 

o S 




o ^ 



2 3 







It's 



o < 






THUNDERBIRDS 


259 


seen represented in pi. xxxiii, h. These, 
a gift to the writer from his Indian uncle, 
John Satterlee, were once the property of 
the donor's grandfather, Apa'^samin; 
"Acorn." When adorned by them, that 
renowned warrior became imbued with the 
power of the birds they represented, and 
was able to call the lightning from the skies 
to strike his foes. It is related that he once 
slew an enemy in this way. No doubt the 
design of these garters was dictated by the 
old warrior's famihar demon or dream- 
guardian during his puberty fast. I have 
seen a somewhat similar pair, of more 
recent origin, and doubtless of less magic 
fame, collected by ^Mr M. R. Harrington 
among the Potawatomi. 

Some small pouches with animal designs 
are shown in pis. lx\ ii-lxix. 

Designs on Woven Bags 

Of the figures to be found on the woven 
bags or pouches of the Menomini, none have 
any native signification except such as are 
realistic, with one exception. This is a 
simple solid figure of hourglass shape 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





260 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



(fig. 18), said to symbolize a coup or brave 
deed on the part of the owner. It is sug- 
gestive of the X-shape figures of Hke im- 
port, painted in vermihon on grave-posts 



E 




H 



Fig. 18. — Hourglass design.' Fig. 20. — Grave-shed design. 



a b 

Fig. 19. — Sacrificial food dishes. 




Fig. 21. — Diamond design. Fig. 22. — Spider-web design. 

or on weapons. Fig. 19, a, b, show two 
oblong figures called birch-bark food dishes, 
the spots inside being food. These often 



INDIAN NOTES 



THUNDERBIRDS 



accompany respresentations of the mani- 
tous to signify sacrificial offerings made to 
keep them contented. A grave-house or 
covering is shown in fig. 20. Food dishes 
with contents are sometimes woven near 
these to appease hungry souls. 

Of other reahstic forms, none of which 
are very abundant, as compared with 
purely geometric concepts, the Thunder- 
bird is perhaps most commonly seen. PL 
Lxx, e, shows one of these manitous woven 
on an antique bag. Zigzag lines repre- 
senting the Hghtning are worked above its 
head. Another Thunderer, without the 
hghtning decoration, is seen in d of the 
same plate, taken from the reverse side of 
the same bag. A flock of young Thunder- 
birds, with joined wing-tips, is portrayed 
in b, but some translate this figure as rep- 
resenting people, or more commonly women 
with clasped hands, and speak of the motive 
as a "friendship" design placed on gift 
bags. The usual explanation, however, is 
that the figures represent the Thunderers, 
and that their presence on any article is a 
prayer to gain the protection of these 



261 



AXD MONOGRAPHS 



262 



M E N O :\1 1 N I CULTURE 



deities. The Thunderbird design as shown 
on these bags seems to be a very ancient 
pan-Algonkian concept. The writer has 
noted it not only among all the Central 
Algonkian tribes and their Southern Siouan 
neighbors, most of whose concepts of art 
and of material culture have been borrowed 
from the former, but he has seen the iden- 
tical figures on archeological specimens col- 
lected on Algonkian sites much farther east. 
At Shinnecock Hills, Long Island, N. Y., 
he once took from a shell-heap a fragment 
of pottery with the form of a Thunderer 
etched on it. This specimen is now in the 
American Museum of Natural History. In 
the Museum of the American Indian, Heye 
Foundation, there is a fragment of red shale 
from the great Raritan (Unami Delaware) 
site at Tottenville, Staten Island, N. Y., 
with similar pictures scratched on it, and a 
polished stone monitor pipe in the museum 
connected w'ith Rutgers College at Xew 
Brunswick, N. J., possibly from a site of 
the same people, has a like incised orna- 
ment. A portrait of a Mahican chief from 
the Hudson river, made in London in 1799, 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



a 




^ 



THUNDERBIRD DESIGNS WOVEN ON BAGS 
a Woman in league with Thunderers; b, Three Thunderers; f," Man 
lea<^ue with Thunderer; d, The Thunderbird; e, Thunderbird and hghtning 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




9^ #\i 



ANIMAL DESIGNS WOVEN ON BAGS 
a.iUnderground panther; b c, Underground panther and real panther; d 



13eer; e, Turtle 



PANTHERS 


263 


shows the same motive in facial paintmg. 
On the other hand, in 1913 the writer ob- 
served closely similar representations of the 
Thunderbirds painted on several lodges of a 
band of Plains Cree encamped on the banks 
of the Qu'Appelle river, on Crooked Lake 
reserve in Saskatchewan. 

PI. Lxx, c, shows a man ''in league 
with the Thunder," or having supernatural 
assistance from that deity. As is usual 
in such cases the man is shown with a 
hooked nose, suggestive of the beak of 
his patron, and with one arm linked with 
or joined to the wing of the manitou. 

In a of the same plate is figured a woman 
en rapport with the Thunder. Her hands 
touch the wings of Thunderbirds on either 
side. 

The mythical Giant Underground Panther 
fpl. Lxxi, a, b) is not uncommonly shown 
on bags intended as receptacles to hold 
medicines. It is distinguished from ordi- 
nary panthers (c) by its bufifalo-like horns. 
The long, curling tail drawn under the feet 
is often spoken of as 'Hhe panther's road." 
These panther figures, except for the posi- 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





264 


MEXOMIXI CULTURE 




tion of the tail, closely resemble the huge 
effigy mounds and intaglios of the panther 
found in Wisconsin, just as the represen- 
tations of the Thunderbirds before described 
resemble the bird tumuli. 

A deer (pi. lxxi, d) copied from a 
woven-bead bag containing a love-charm, 
constitutes a rare motive on ]Menomini 
bags, though such animals are frequently to 
be noted on specimens from the Sauk, Fox, 
Potawatomi, and Winnebago. Among the 
Eastern or Santee Sioux the deer or the elk 
is counted a powerful supernatural assist- 
ant in love affairs. 

Some bags show the totem animal or 
dream-guardian of the maker. The turtle 
(pi. LXXI, e) is a rare subject taken from an 
old fragment of a bag that once held sacred 
objects. It is one of the few examples of 
this reptile that has come to the attention of 
the writer, although they have sometimes 
been noted as ornamental designs on bead 
bags. With the turtle were two incomplete 
figures denominated snakes by the wrinkled 
grandmother who presented the specimen 
(pi. Lxxiii, c). It is said that sorcerers 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. LXXII 




ANCIENT DESIGNS WOVEN ON BAGS 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Xatural History 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



>*<:* 



( 



I* 



uizSiSlS 



CONVENTIONALIZED REALISTIC DESIGNS 
a Men holding hands in friendship; b, Man and Woman; c. Snakes 



FRIENDSHIP 


265 


sometimes had representations of horned 
serpents woven in the bags which contained 
their poisons. 

In pi. Lxxii, b, is represented an ancient 
bag of basswood twine and buffalo wool, 
obtained as a gift from Philip Naku'ti, 
eighty-four years old in 1911, when the pre- 
sentation was made, who had inherited it 
from his grandfather. On one side are 
shown Thunderbirds and flocks of their 
young; on the other, Underground and pre- 
sumably actual panthers with their cubs, 
and the bark dishes from which they are 
supposed to eat. A spider-web is repre- 
sented by c of the same plate, and by fig. 22'. 
The lozenges in fig. 21 and in pi. lxxii, /, 
are called "diamonds," though this term 
may be a recent one. 

The design in pi. lxxiii, a, signifies 
men holding hands in friendship. They 
are not nearly so often' figured as are 
women, for some reason, nor do men and 
women often alternate on any bags seen 
from this tribe. But note b. 

The well known "elongate hexagon" 
(pi. Lxxiv, a) is sometimes designated the 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





266 



MEXOMIXI CULTURE 



"watch chain" design by the Indians, but 
this is obviously a modern term. In rare 
instances I have seen conventionalized 
flower motives on :Menomini bags of this 
sort. To the "hourglass," (fig. 18) ''poly- 
gon," (pi. Lxxiv, d), elongate oval or "star" 
(c), and "eye" design (b), the writer has 
supplied the names given for convenience 
sake. These designations, so far as he is 
aware, are entirely unknown to the Indians. 

EMBROIDERY 

Among the ornamental arts of the 
Menomini, that of embroidery takes first 
place. It is also a handicraft of antiquity, 
embroidery in colored quills of the por- 
cupine dating back to prehistoric times. 
However, in the years since the first white 
contact, \>netian glass beads have been 
gradually substituted for the quills. This 
is owing to the ease with which they may 
be manipulated, and to the fact that they 
require no preliminary tedious processes of 
gathering, sorting, dyeing, and softening 
But the ancient designs seem to have been 
retained in their entiretv. 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINl CULTURE 



3<XXZ=X>0C 





CONVENTIONALIZED GEOMETRIC DESIGNS 
a. Elongate hexagon or watch chain; h. Eye; c. Star; d, Polygon 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. LXXV 







OUILL EMBROIDERY ON OTTER-FUR BAGS 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



EMBROIDERY 



267 



:^Ienomini embroidery is distinctive in its 
tendency to graceful openwork, without a 
filled-in background. It is thus reminiscent 
of the quilhvork of the early Iroquois, the 
designs consisting, Uke theirs, of geometric 
or of conventionaHzed figures, the latter 
being, however, somewhat more reaUstic 
(pi. Lxxv-Lxxvii). Heavy figures and 
solidly quilled or beaded motives are 
avoided. The large, closely covered, con- 
ventional designs of the other Central 
Algonkian and Southern Siouan tribes occur 
only rarely, except in the case of the silk 
applique work on women's garments. 
Equally rare are the highly realistic designs, 
animal or floral, so dear to the hearts of 
the Ojibwa. Specimens of both these 
types are sometimes seen among the IMeno- 
mini, but they are probably intrusive. On 
the other hand the Woodland Potawa- 
tomi, who are in contact with the IMenomini 
on the north, seem to have copied Meno- 
mini motives, and indeed have so confessed 
to the writer. Their native style is rather 
that of the general Central Algonkian 
culture. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



268 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




Silk Applique 

Applique designs made in colored silk rib- 
bons, cross-stitched, or so carefully turned 
in and sewn that the stitching is invisible, 
are found on the broadcloth leggings, robes, 
and skirts now worn by women, and tradi- 
tion states that these are survivals of 
quilled decorations on dark-dyed deer- 
skin. The figures are sometimes purely 
geometric, or geometric figures combined 
with conventional floral designs; but the 
greater number of applique motives are 
purely floral. 

While httle or no symbolism is to be found 
in Menomini embroidery, in their silk 
applique work the contrary is true. Ac- 
cording to tribal mythology there is a set 
of four celestial sisters who dwell in the 
southern heavens, who, with another group 
of four sisters living in the east, control the 
destinies of women. To the southern sky 
sisters certain colors are appropriate, and 
each has power to travel and befriend 
females in one of the four directions. The 
colors are: red for the east, black for the 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINl CULTURE 



PL. LXXVI 



JLJi, 



« 



QUILL EMBROIDERY ON OTTER TAILS 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




OUILLED POUCH MADE OF EAGLE-SKIN 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



APPLIQUE 


269 


north, white, yellow, or blue, for the south 
and west. In the latter instance there 
seems to be confusion in the minds of the 
Indians as to which is which. The most 
that can be said, then, is that the colored 
ribbon work has a primary use which is 
purely ornamental, and a secondary use 
which is ceremonial, the colors being looked 
upon as protective emblems of the Sky 
Women. 

DESCRIPTION OF SPECTMF.NS 

Some few of the ribbon designs appli- 
qued on women's garments are geometric 
figures, principally diamonds, often in- 
dented at the short axes (fig. 23), or alter- 
nated with elongated diamonds and dia- 
mond-like figures. Triangles, hexagons, 
oblongs, and ovals also occur in similar 
rows, with alternations of regular and 
elongate figures (fig. 24). 

Stepped triangles and diamonds are 
found in combination with floral figures 
(fig. 25), and diamonds with elongated and 
indented sides are seen (fig. 26), but it is a 
question whether or not some of these con- 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





270 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




Fig. 23. — Indented diamonds. 




Fig. 24. — Stepped triangles and diamonds. 




P"iG. 26. — Elongate diamonds. 



INDIAN NOTES 



I 
i 



DESIGNS 



271 



cepts, which now seem to be wholly geo- 
metric, are not the ultimate conventionali- 
zation of floral motives. 

Among the conventional floral designs, 
fig. 27 shows a still recognizable oak-leaf 




lie. 



-Udk-k'df and acorn. 




f iG. 2S. — Antennse motive. 

and acorn basis, but fig. 28 impresses the 
writer as having been derived from the 
upper or forward wings and feathery anten- 
nae of one of the larger species of moths. 
Fig. 29 may perhaps be a further conven- 
tionalization of this motive in which the 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



272 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




original has been forgotten, the antennae 
exaggerated, and the wings attenuated, 
dwarfed, and notched. Hearts and dia- 
monds, which form a minor decoration on 


'^'X^^^^^^^^'^ 


^s^^^^^lMl^iiiiiiHfl^RHMl^siii^iMl^siMiH 


Fig. 29. — Antennae, hearts, and diamonds. 

this specimen, perhaps indicate the modern 
influence of a pack of cards. 




mS^^^^hI 


B^^^^^^^^^^pUl 


Fig. 30. — Stepped diamond and elongate figure. 

While at first glance fig. 30 seems to 
belong to the purely geometric group, the 
writer inclines to the opinion that it repre- 
sents another case of the ultimate conveii- 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. LXXVIII 




FLORAL DESIGNS 
a, On breech-clout; b. On cradle-band 



STENCILS 


273 


tionalization of an open-flower and spread- 
ing-leaf motive. 

The designs are made from stencils cut 
from paper or from birch-bark, outhned 
with flour paste or charcoal, each stencil 
being a single unit of the design, and re- 
peated as often as is needed. The speci- 
men shown in pi. lxxviii, a, is the hand- 
somely decorated front and rear flaps of a 
breech-clout, obtained by the writer among 
the Menomini, but of doubtful origin, for all 
the old breech-clouts from this tribe which 
have come under our observation have been 
beautified b}^ flower designs like those seen 
among the Ojibwa, only more crudely 
done. This specimen resembles closely 
Winnebago or Sauk-and-Fox work, the 
form of the doubly-curved floral design par- 
taking much of the nature of those found 
among these people. It is quite possible, 
however, that the garment may be of 
Menomini make, for the art of the tribe is 
somewhat of a cross between pure Central 
and Northern Algonkian motives. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





274 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Porcupine Quillwork 

Formerly the ^lenomini delighted to 
adorn their garments with the dyed quills 
of the porcupine, but of late years the art 
has disappeared, except for the coarse 
variety still used to decorate birch-bark 
boxes of small size intended to hold trinkets 
or maple sugar (pi. lxxix, a, c). A few 
beautiful examples of the delicate open- 
work figures once made on deerskin have 
survived on the feet and tails of medicine- 
bags of otter, mink, and even weasel-skin, 
on pouches, arm-bands, and receptacles 
found in ancient sacred bundles, and on 
moccasins and various small objects still in 
the possession of the descendants of the 
early white settlers at Fort Howard and the 
Green bay district generally. Some fine 
examples are to be seen in the museum of 
the Kellogg PubHc Library at Green Bay,i 
and others, family heirlooms, are in the 
possession of Miss Deborah Marten of that 
city. It is regrettable that these speci- 
mens are so obscurely located, instead of 
being placed with one of the large museums, 




INDIAN NOTES 



QUILL WORK 


275 


where they could be viewed by thousands 
and their preservation be assured. 

The task of embroidering with porcupine- 
quills is said to have been both irksome and 
dangerous. The sharp tips of the spines 
were Hkely to wound the fingers in the 
process of being sewed in, and afterwards, in 
being trimmed off, might fly into the eyes 
and cause blindness. 

In embroidering, the quills were softened 
in water, flattened between the teeth or the 
fingernails, and sewed with an awl on a 
background of soft-tanned leather, which 
itself had been previously dyed a dark color. 
A pattern was marked on the leather before 
the work was commenced. And when the 
design was completely embroidered, the 
quills, still soft, were flattened and smoothed 
by rubbing with a tool made of antler (fig. 
53). Porcupine-quills were also woven to 
form belts and decorative strips; they were 
used as ornamental wrappings for pipestems, 
to fringe the legs of small skins used as med- 
icine containers, and, with horsehair, to adorn 
the decorative strips attached to the shafts 
of eagle-feathers. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





276" 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




In the oldest examples of quillwork seen 
by the writer, namely the medicine-bags, 
which are handed down from generation to 
generation and are said to date back as far 
as two hundred years, floral designs have 
been abundant. 

ANTIQUITY OF FLORAL MOTIVES 

As has just been mentioned, floral de- 
signs, especially in conventionalized forms, 
are unquestionably of respectable antiquity 
among the Menomini, since they appear on 
examples of quill embroidery attached to 
medicine-bags or other receptacles some of 
which can be traced back two hundred years 
or more. The wide diffusion of this art 
among the various forest tribes, and its 
disappearance along with other traits of 
Woodland culture, as soon as the borders 
of the Woodland area are reached, mark it 
as one of the distinctive units of that cul- 
ture. There is no reason to maintain that 
because Prairie Indians prefer to use geo- 
metric motives almost exclusively the 
Forest tribes must necessarily have done so. 

Except in the Southeastern or Gulf re- 




INDIAN NOTES 



FLORAL DESIGNS 


277 


gion, where still other esthetic ideas prevail, 
floral concepts are one of the concomitants 
of Eastern Woodland material culture, and 
go hand-in-hand in distribution with such 
other characteristic features as the soft- 
soled moccasin. Southern Siouan tribes, 
and the Eastern Dakota, all of whom belong 
to the same group as the Central Algonkians, 
so far as material culture is concerned, also 
make use of these floral motives. On the 
northern plains, among those tribes which 
are in the process of graduation from Wood- 
land to Plains culture, like the Bungi and 
the Plains Ojibwa, or the Plains Cree, who 
have practically crossed the dividing line, 
similar floral designs are found. These 
facts demonstrate that floral concepts are a 
fundamental trait of Woodland culture, and, 
so far as we can determine, an ancient one. 
The region in which they are in vogue has, 
in comparatively recent times, been ex- 
tended across the subarctic forest belt to 
the West where it now includes even the 
Tlinkit. 

It is undeniable that the Ojibwa and the 
Eastern Cree in particular have modernized 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





278 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




certain designs. No claim can be made 
for the antiquity of the flower-pot or jar- 
diniere from which issues a double spray of 
flowers, but there were blossoms in the for- 
ests and Indians to admire and copy them 
before flower-pots were introduced. Large 
bands of Ojibwa reside in Canada where the 
maple-leaf is the dominion emblem, and 
numbers of the tribe on both sides of the 
border make designs on which realistic 
maple-leaves with full venation are promi- 
nent. This particular type of work is un- 
questionably modern, and has no doubt 
been encouraged by traffic with the whites, 
yet the underlying idea of a realistic leaf is 
not, especially among the Ojibwa, who of all 
Indians seem to have gone more directly to 
botanical originals for their inspiration. At 
present the Menomini, who, when the 
writer first saw them in 1909, were still 
making only their own types of beadwork, 
are turning their attention more and more 
to realistic Ojibwa designs. Yet this may 
be only a recrudescence of an older custom, 
for some antique Menomini specimens which 
I have seen are more realistic in their con- 




INDIAN NOTES 



:m e t a l-w r k 


279 


cepts than much of the work dating from 
post-European contact. 

This discussion must not be interpreted 
to mean that the writer thinks that the 
early Menomini and other forest peoples 
made use of flower figures exclusively, and 
utterly neglected geometric designs. Such 
is not the case. They, and all their cul- 
tural relatives, had many geometric con- 
cepts in their art, which were contempo- 
raneous with these. In embroidery, carv- 
ing, and later in applique, however, floral 
designs predominate over all others, whereas 
in pottery, basketry, and in woven bags 
and mats, geometric figures were preferred, 
or dictated by custom, or, in some instances, 
more easily made. 

METAL WORKING 

The elders still repeat traditions concern- 
ing the ancient use of native copper. 
According to these stories, the Menomini 
knew copper only in the surface veins, and 
did not attempt to sink shafts for mining 
purposes. It is said that fire was used to 
soften the ore so that it might be cut with 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





280 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




stone implements. The detached mass 
was then taken home and again heated, and 
hammered into shape with stones. The 
melting process was unknown by the In- 
dians who were ignorant both of the means 
of producing heat great enough to melt 
copper and of the crucibles to contain the 
molten metal. Slightly grooved or 
notched stone mauls, such as are still to 
be picked up on the ancient sites of the 
Menomini, could well have been used for 
beating out copper. 

Many types of native copper implements 
have been obtained on the old Menomini 
sites at the Suamicos, Oconto, Peshtigo, 
and elsewhere on Green bay, Wisconsin, 
especially by Mr J. P. Schumacher of 
Green Bay. Among the articles found have 
been arrowpoints, knives, spear-heads, a 
butterfly ceremonial (with a cache of other 
copper articles at Oconto), and fishhooks. 
The writer personally found a fishhook on 
one of the Oconto sites. 

At the present time the Menomini make 
a variety of ornaments from silver and ger- 
man silver; principally round, flat buttons 




INDIAN NOTES 



SILVERSMITHS 



281 



and brooches of types similar to those in 
use by the Iroquois and other eastern tribes, 
attached by means of a tongue (pi. lxxx). 
They also manufacture rings, bangles, ear- 





FiG. 3!.— Rings of beaten metal. (Actual size.) 




Fig. 32. — Metal earring with incised design. (Actual size.) 

rings, and bracelets. In the workman- 
ship and design of the latter they show 
peculiar skill and originality. Several ex- 
cellent examples are shown in figs. 5, 31, 32. 
The tools used by Menomini silver- 
smiths are obviouslv derived from those 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



282 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




kept on hand by early traders as a part of 
their stocks in trade, and consist of small 
commercial or smithy-made punches, ham- 
mers, and dies of metal, with a Httle iron 
anvil. Some of these tools have been im- 
provised from old files and rasps. The 
last surviving Menomini silversmith of the 
writer's acquaintance is Teko Whitefish, 
who was actively plying his trade in the 
early summer of 1920. 

POTTERY- 

Although pottery vessels are said not to 
have been made or used by the Menomini 
for over a hundred years, the memory of the 
process, as described to them by their par- 
ents, still hngers among some of the older 
people. In 1911 the late Philip Niiku'ti, 
then eighty-four years of age, told the writer 
that vessels were made of selected clay, 
which was pounded and mixed with pul- 
verized shells of the freshwater clam (Unio 
sp.) for tempering. When the clay had been 
properly prepared, more water was added, 
and it was kneaded into a stiff paste. This 
was plastered by hand over a large ball of 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER^MENOMINI CULTURE 






5ILVER BROOCHES 
Diameter of t\ 44 in. 



POTTERY 



283 



basswood-bark twine, an opening being left 
out of which protruded an end of the string. 
The clay was then smoothed off with a 
stick, and the incipient vessel was set in 
the sun to dry. In fact, sunshine was 
considered such a necessary factor in the 
drying process that no one ever attempted 
to make pottery on a dull day. 

When the clay coating was dry, the 
potter took hold of the end of the ball of 
twine, which had been left protruding 
from the opening made for the purpose, and, 
pulling it, unwound the ball within, leaving 
an earthen shell. Fresh clay was daubed 
over the rough inside, and the outside was 
again scraped smooth with a stick. The 
vessel was then sized with a coating or 
wash of finer clay, and ornamented with 
designs marked with a sharpened stick. 
Such was Xaku'ti's information, but arch- 
eological evidence is to the effect that fig- 
ures impressed by means of sticks wrapped 
with cord predominate over incised designs. 
After decorating the receptacle, holes were 
bored in the sides near the rim, for the 
purpose of affixing a bail of basswood-bark. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



284 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




The vessel was then dried again, and is 
said to have been ready for use. Xaku'ti 
supposed it not to have been fired but to 
have become hardened by the heat while 
in use, but apparently memory or his in- 
formation must be at fault in this particu- 
lar, for not only does it seem improbable 
that an unfired vessel could have been 
made to retain liquid without dissolving or 
coming apart, but all the potsherds and 
vessels seen or collected by the writer from 
old Menomini sites show distinct evidence 
of firing. Indeed they could not otherwise 
have withstood the elements for so many 
years. Possibly the theory that vessels 
were used without this essential step is a 
"folk explanation" of a now forgotten art. 
Archeological investigations show that the 
earthen jars of the ancient Menomini are 
of the old "pan-Algonkian" type with 
pointed base (fig. 33). 

Peter Fish once told the writer that 
stone kettles were made in olden times. A 
shallow hole was first pecked in a bowlder 
with another stone, and the pitting then 




INDIAN NOTES 



POTTERY 



285 



rubbed smooth. Perhaps this datum is 
really referable to stone mortars. 

It is said that dishes and spoons were 
made of clay before wood came into use, 
but this mav be merelv a confused memory 




Fig. 33. — Pottery jar with pointed base. (Height, 16^ in.) 

of the making of pottery jars described 
above. In common with a number of 
other Algonkian tribes visited by the 
writer, the Menomini believe that the first 
iron and brass or copper kettles obtained 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



286 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




by them were thrown up on the surface of 
the earth to sacred dreamers by the Under- 
neath Gods. Probably this, too, is a sur- 
vival of a tradition dating back to the time 
when kettles were made of earth, the prop- 
erty of the Powers Below. Be it as it 
may, this idea is curiously widespread 
among kindred tribes. 

HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS 
Wooden Bowls 

Among the Menomini two types of 
wooden bowls are known which are com- 
mon to nearly all the forest tribes. These 
are the round form, and an oval variety, 
rising to a point at each end. A few of the 
circular bowls possess a handle on one side. 
Both types vary in size, from tiny affairs 
capable of holding only a few doses of 
medicine, with tiny carved spoons to match, 
to large feasting bowls, two and one-half 
feet in diameter, with huge ladles for serv- 
ing. The average size of the round bowls 
is from eight to ten inches in diameter. 
They are used principally as individual food 




INDIAN NOTES 



WOODEN BOWLS 



28; 



dishes, or for throwing dice. Oval bowls 
are used only for food or for medicine, and 
are seldom of great size. 

Wooden bowls are no longer made, and 
are now rare among the Menomini. For- 




FiG. 34. — Oval wooden bowl. (Extreme diameter, 7 5 in.) 




Fig. 35. — Round wooden bowl. (Extreme diameter, 
lli^ in.) 

merly they were fashioned from the knots or 
burls of the birch, black ash, and curly 
maple. After the bowl had been cut from 
the tree on which it grew, it was shaped and 
hollowed by burning and scraping with a 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



288 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




crooked knife or a small adze. In still 
earlier times flint, shell, or native copper 
implements were used. The process is the 
same as that used in carving out log mor- 
tars or dugout canoes. 

PL Lxxxi exhibits a bowl of the round 
type with a carved handle. These bowls 
are never made with thick, flat bottoms as 
among the Iroquois. Fig. 34 represents an 
oval bowl, and fig. 35 a round bowl. These 
latter are 7| in. and IItV in., respectively, 
in greatest diameter. 

TORTOISE-SHELL DiSHES 

Dishes or bowls made of the shells (cara- 
paces) of the margined, wood, or B landings 
tortoise, are sometimes seen. These uten- 
sils (fig. 36) are prepared for use by scraping 
out the inner ribs, and sometimes by trim- 
ming the edges of the shell away. They 
are used for various purposes, often for 
holding tobacco. They seem to be anal- 
ogous to the archeological specimens found 
in graves and shellpits in coastal New York: 




INDIAN NOTES 



SHELL BOWLS 


289 


The example figured is in the American 
Museum of Natural History, and measures 
7f in. in length. 






"^^B^^^^gg— ~- ' '^ "^ ,, -r^ 


Fig. 36.— Bowl made of ti.rtoise-shell. ^Length, 1\ in.) 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 

Wooden Spoons 

Spoons with short handles and large, 
broad bowls, were formerly carved from red 
cedar, birch, maple, and walnut. Fig. 37 
shows a large ladle used in serving feasts of 
the Mita'win, on the handle of which is 
carved a human head, intended to represent 
Md"nabus; fig. 38 is another, less handsome, 
long-handled example. They are, respec- 
tively, 13^ in. and 24 in. in length. Most 
spoons and ladles are plain, or at least 
ornamented only with some simple open- 


AND MONOGRAPHS 





290 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



work carving (fig. 39). This latter form is 
one which I have not observed elsewhere, 
and is now in the American Museum of 
Natural History. Most wooden spoons 




Fig. 37. — Ceremonial ladle. (Extreme length, 13^ in.) 

possess a handle carved so as to form a 
backward-pointing hook, so that they may 
be hung over the edge of a bowl or a kettle 
and not slip into the food. This is a feature 



INDIAN NOTES 



292 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




that is rather widely found among the 
Woodland tribes (fig. 40). On the whole, 
Menomini spoons are not so well made as 
those of their neighbors; the attractively 
carved ladles of the Sauk, Fox, Potawa- 
tomi, Winnebago, and eastern Sioux, with 
their effigy handles, are certainly of a better 
type. 

Fig. 40. — Spoon with hooked handle. (Extreme length, 
6| in.) 

Shell Spoons 

Spoons are said to have been carved of 
antler and of bone, but this is no longer 
done. Fig. 41 shows a crude spoon made 
from the slightly modified scapula of a 
young black bear, now in the American 
Museum of Natural History. It seems 
highly probable that spoons made of simple 




INDIAN NOTES 



SHELL SPOONS 



293 




clamshells were the forerunners of wooden 
ladles among the Menomini. In fact, this 
has been stated by one of the Jesuit mis- 
sionaries at Green Bay, 
in speaking of the adja- 
cent tribes. Moreover, 
the ^lenomini, for cer- 
tain ceremonial pur- 
poses, still use clam- 
shell spoons ; for example 
in administering the 
sacred drink during the 
initiation of candidates 
in the Mitd'win. A dam- 
shell for this purpose 
should be found in every 
properly equipped medi- 
cine-bag. 

Baskets and Boxes • 

Among the IMenomini the art of making 
splint baskets in checker, twilled, and 
wicker-work, is neither ancient nor well 
developed. It is an industry brought to 
the tribe by the Oneida and the Stock- 
bridges from the East. The forms in use 



Fig. 41. — Spoon made 
from the scapula of a 
young bear. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



294 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



include fancy-work baskets, storage bas- 
kets, and even broad-brimmed hats. These 
articles are principally made for sale, and 
are seldom used by the Menomini. On the 
subject of basketry Hoffman remarks: 

"Baskets are made on much the same 
principle of plaiting as is employed for bark 
mats. The strips or osiers are made from 
black elm, the necessary limbs being from 3 
to 4 inches in diameter; these are thoroughly 
hammered with a wooden mallet until the indi- 
vidual layers of the branch are detached from 
the layers immediately beneath. These layers 
are then cut into thin narrow strips by means 
of the knife universally used [the crooked knife]. 
The strips are kept in coils until ready for use, 
when they are soaked in water." ^^ 

Since time immemorial the Menomini 
have made baskets, boxes, pails, and other 
receptacles of birch-bark. The commonest 
of these are plain boxes popularly known as 
"mococks" throughout the region of the 
great lakes. They are made of a single 
piece of birch-bark cut according to the 
pattern displayed in pi. lxxix, a. The 
sides are then folded up and sewed together 
with spruce-root. Around the upper edge 
a band of split willow is also sewed on to 



INDIAN NOTES 



:yi o c o c K s 



295 



strengthen the rim. The boxes are usually 
provided with a cover of bark, ^Yhich is 
sewed on in the same manner. These re- 
cepacles range in size from huge storage 
affairs for holding maple sugar, to Httle 
trinket boxes. The shape resembles a trun- 
cated pyramid with rounded edges, and, in 
in the case of the smaUer boxes, sides and 
cover are often ornamented with colored 
porcupine-quiUs. Another form of orna- 
mented bark box of more nearly rectangular 
shape is shown in pi. l^xix, c. Among the 
Menomini the writer has never seen these 
bark receptacles ornamented with any other 
device save quillmg. Pails made like the 
mococks except in shape are used to carry 
maple-sap. Small bark dishes are used to 
catch the sap as it drips from the spout 
driven into the maple tree. These articles 
are also described in the section on making 
maple sugar, pages 165-168. 

A cleverly made and uniquely shaped 
cylindrical box of birch-bark is shown in pi. 
Lxxix, h. It is composed of a circular 
piece of bark, apparently slipped off a log, 
perhaps a rotten one, and a disc of wood 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



296 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



which forms the bottom. The top is made 
of another disc which fits over the upper 
edge. Sweet-grass baskets (figs. 42, 43) 






V 

./.^. 



v:^) 







^\-ji^!R\ \\\ ;'^^|> 



Fig. 42. — Sweet-grass basket ornamented with quillwork. 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 

are made by the coil process, and quilled. 

Although they are common among the 

Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo, I have seen only 

two buffalo-hid& trunks among the Meno- 



INDIAN NOTES 



I 



BASKETS 



mini. One (fig. 44) is in the American 
]\Iuseum of Natural History, and was col- 
lected by the late Dr William Jones. It is 
about 3 ft. long, 18 in. broad, and 18 in. 




Fig. 43. — Sweet-grass basket ornamented with quillwork. 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 

high, and is made of plain bison-hide. The 
other, of about the same size and shape, is in 
the Milwaukee Public Museum. It was col- 
lected by Dr. S. A. Barrett, and is unique 
in that it still retains the wool inside. 



297 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



298 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



The family from whom Dr Jones obtained 
his specimen have informed the writer that 
their trunk may have been of Sauk origin. 




Fig. 44. — Eison-hide trunk. 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 

However, all those which have come to my 
attention from that tribe have been adorned 
with painted figures. 



INDIAN NOTES 



WOODEN BOXES 



299 



Other Receptacles 
Shallow, oblong, 
wooden boxes with 
sliding covers are 
used to hold eagle- 
feathers (fig. 45). 
They measure 
about twelve inches 
in length, by three 
in breadth, and, in 
the case of old 
specimens, have 
been carved out by 
hand. They are 
widely distributed 
among the Cen- 
tral tribes. The 
example here 
figured is in the 
American Museum 
of Natural History. 
Two rawhide 
pouches with open- 
work ornamenta- 
tion cut in their 
flaps are shown in 




AND MONOGRAPHS 



300 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




Fig. 46. — Rawhide pouch for holding porcupine-quills 




Fig. 47. — Rawhide pouch for holding porcupine-quills. 
(Length, about u in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



B R :\I- B W-D RILL 


301 


figs. 46, 47. They are used to hold porcu- 
pine-quills intended for use in embroidering. 
In shape they are like envelopes. The 
measurements are, respectively, 7 in. by 5| 
in. and 6^ in. by 4\ in. The writer be- 
lieves these to be rare articles, as he has 
seen no others. 

Grease and lard are often stored in blad- 
ders of the black bear, a custom often noted 
b3' the writer among the Ojibwa and the 
Cree north of Lake Superior. 

Brooms 
A broom of cedar (pi. lxxxii) is of a 
type formerly used to clean out the lodges. 
A thick, cylindrical post about four feet 
long is taken and, except for about a foot 
at one end, is trimmed down to make a 
slender handle. The club end is then spht 
into fine slivers. These, bent backward 
and outward, form the brush, which is 
secured by a tight belt of bark. 

Fire-drills 
The bow-drill, with a shaft of seasoned 
cedar and a hearth-board of the same 
material, was used to make fire. The tin- 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





302 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



Fig. 48. — «, Torch in birch-bark case; b, Rope of cedar-bark 
used to transport fire. (Length of a, 16/e in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



MORTARS 



303 



der was pounded cedar-bark, or, in some 
cases, punk. Punk is still used with flint 
and steel in lighting ceremonial pipes. If 
the first spark does not catch, the omen is 
not good. 

Thick ropes made of twisted, pounded, 
and shredded cedar-bark are still sometimes 
used to carry fire from one place to another 
(fig. 48, &) . The spark lives and eats slowly 
into the rope for a long time until wanted. 
Then, if violently waved in the air, it 
glows or even flames. 

Mortars 

The IMenomini use a short, heavy, hori- 
zontal log mortar eighteen inch'es to two 
feet in length by about a foot thick, usually 
with rude handles hewn on the ends (pi. 
xxxviii) . With it is always a short double- 
ended pestle a yard or less long. Stone 
pestles are not now used, nor were any data 
secured as to their occurrence on the old 
sites. Probably the stone pounder goes 
with the vertical log type of mortar. Ver- 
tical mortars are sometimes, though rarely, 
seen on the INIenomini reservation, but all 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



304 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



those that have come to the writer's knowl- 
edge have been in Potawatomi famiHes. 
The Menomini do not use stone metates and 
mullers for corn crushing, as do some of the 
neighboring tribes. 

Bone Awls 

Fig. 49 shows a bone awl collected among 
the Menomini by Dr S. A. Barrett, and now 
in the Milwaukee Public Museum. The 




Fig. 49. — Bone awl now used in basketry. 
Courtesy of the Public Museum, Milwaukee. 



writer never had the good fortune to obtain 
one of these, although he has bought them 
from the neighboring Potawatomi. They 
are now used almost exclusively in basket 
making, though they were formerly used in 
sewing leather, the awl being employed to 
perforate the skin, and the sinew thread 
being pushed in afterward, just as shoe- 



INDIAN NOTES 



BONE AWLS 


305 


makers work among us. ^^|^^ 
Fig. 50 shows an awl with a ^^^^^^ 
bone point and a wooden ^^^^^^m 
grip now belonging to the ^^^^^^H 
American Museum of Nat- ^^^^^^B 
ural History; and fig. 51, a, ^^^^^H 
b, two with bone and antler ^^^^^B 
handles and metal points. ^^^^B 
All the forms described here ^^^H 
are survivals of archeological ^|^^P 
days. That entirely of bone 
is familiar to all students; 
the forms with handles no 
doubt illustrate methods of 
hafting sharp bone slivers 
and copper awls. A bone 
described as having been 
used for "pushing awls in 
sewing" is credited to the I 
collection gathered by the 9 
late Dr William Jones in 1 
the catalogue of the Ameri- 1 
can :Museum of Natural 1 

'Hktor\' ^^'^- ^^- — "'^^^'^ '"'^''^^^ ^°"^ 
nii5LOr\. point in wooden grip. 

Courtesy of the American 

Museum of Natural History. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





306 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




Fig. 51. — Bone and antler handled awls with metal points 
(Length of 6, 5i in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



BONE NEEDLES 



BoxE Needles 
Flat, double-pointed 
needles, four to six inches 
long and perforated in 
the middle (fig. 52, a, b) 
are still made of bone by 
theMenomini. They are 
used in netting the 
babiche on snowshoes, 
and closely resemble 
many archeological types. 
The examples shown here 
are in the American 
Museum of Natural 
History. 

For sewing the cattails 
of which the wigwam 
covers are made, a flat, 
thin needle, about twelve 
inches long and haK an 
inch broad, is used. 
These mat needles are 
perforated near the cen- 
ter, and are sharp at one 
end and blunt at the 
other. They are often 



■ "T iiiiiii nii 






T!| li 



307 



Fig. 52. — Snowshoe 
needles made of bone. 
(Length, 6 in.) 

Courtesy of the 
American Museum of 
Natural History-. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



308 


M E N M INI CULTURE 




scalloped on the edges, and decorated 




with incised designs on the upper surfaces 




(fig. 17). 




An Iron for Quills 




N^^. ^^ 




1 ' / 




1 ■'1 




jyi 




Fig. 53. — Quill smoother made of antler. {\ size.) 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 




An antler implement, neatly carved with 




the totem birds of its owner, is shown in 




fig. 53. It is said to be a "quill iron," 




INDIAN NOTES 



QUILL SMOOTHER 



used to smooth out quill embroidery after 
the work had been finished. It is about 
5 in. long, and is now in the American 
Museum of Natural History. 

Vocabulary 

Md'^kiitai'ii'dskimut, yarn ('black') bag. 
icikopa'skimiV, basswood fiber bag. 
kisdki'kop mimi'ti, cedar-bark fiber bag. 
sanup minii'ti, nettle fiber bag. 
sa'sikop minu'ti, slippery-elm fiber bag._ 
nictcima'skimi'tt, food bag, for dried venison. 
kd'kop mimi'ti, corn-hulling bag (string bag). 
piticd'sokihi, buffalo-hide trunk (the term is now 

applied to an ammunition bag). 
ana'kian, mat woven of colored reeds. 
upa'^ki, cattail-flag house mat. 
pj'saniina'kiln, berry or acorn-drying mat. 
ama''^, bulrush-mat needle. 
uske'man a'ma"^, snowshoe needle. 
uske'man, babiche, for snowshoes. 
hiniitci'tciu, oval wooden bowl. 
metigii'ana' giin, round wooden bowl. 
metigu'anagd'sa, tiny, round, wooden bowl. 
meti'gdmiskii'iin, wooden spoon. 
okan d'miskic'iin, spoon made of bone. 
iceidn d'miskiciin, spoon carved of antler. 
d'^scsa d'miskii'iin, clamshell spoon, 
mciig asa'gnn, horizontal log mortar. 
asa'gihialtk, wooden pestle. 
md'nona a'^'ka^, pottery (red clay) kettle. 
olaH-dkun, pottery kettle (lit. 'his kettle'). 
iciki sopomo ma'^^ka, birch-bark box for maple 



309 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



310 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 


• 


kW^kop ma' gun, bark dish or basket. 
me'gisa me'ttk oke'tcikiln, bead heddle. 
ta'pinak oke'tcikun, square frame for bead- 
working. 

WEAPONS 

War-bundles 

In connection with their warlike activi- 
ties, the war-bundles of the Menomini are 
elsewhere described (see pages 60-64), but 
they should again receive at least pass- 
ing notice. These sacred articles are small 
oval packets of amulets and charms, to 
which are attached songs and rituals for the 
purpose of bringing immunity and success 
to the bearers in war, and of restoring the 
wounded to health. They belong to those 
who have dreamed the right to own them, 
and are supposed to be the gifts of the 
Thunderbirds or of the Morning Star. 

The contents of these sacred articles vary 
considerably, doubtless according to the 
dreams of the owners, emphasis being laid 
on the charms relating to the donor of the 
package. Thus the leading or principal 
power in one may be a little warclub or a 
tiny, carved lacrosse stick or a ball, or all 




INDIAN NOTES 



I 



WAR-BUNDLES 


311 


three, or even a round stone, all of which 
articles are emblematic of the Thunderers. 
In another I have seen the entire skin of a 
bald eagle; another had a tightl3^-tied 
bundle of weasel-skins; others tails or other 
portions of the skin of the buffalo; several 
had snake-skins; two, the skins of small 
birds to which portions of human scalps 
were attached. These articles are invari- 
ably enveloped in an outer wrapper com- 
posed of a small, woven reed mat, whence 
comes the native name for these charms, 
wapana'kian, or white mat, although the 
mat in actuality is often covered with de- 
signs in dark-dyed reeds. Beneath the 
outer mat is an inner wrapping of white 
tanned buckskin, called wa'pikui. One 
unusual example collected by the writer 
from the late Pitwa'skum had this inner 
wrapper covered with paintings of the gods 
of war in various colors (pi. xcvi). Tied to 
the outside of the bundle are usually reed 
whistles for calling the Thunderers, war- 
clubs, and deers'-hoof or gourd rattles. 
The contents include, in addition to the 
articles previously enumerated, roots and 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





312 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




herbs to heal the sick or to render the war- 
riors invisible, war-paint, and the skins of 
small animals, such as bats and swallows, 
which are difficult to shoot on the wing, 
and, when worn by the warriors, impart to 
them this quahty of swift erratic flight. 

Hawk- or eagle-skins lend strength to 
strike the foe; the raven gives wariness, 
especially to scouts; the snake stealth in 
approach and escape; the weasel, who never 
returns from the hunt with an empty belly, 
success and ferocity. With these may be 
birch-bark song records in the crude picture- 
writing common among the Algonkians, 
and additional charms such as feathers, 
tiny warclubs, bows and arrows, or even, 
as in one instance, a native copper arrow- 
head, picked up by someone long ago, and 
kept as a war-charm. In another case, a 
grooved stone axe, once hafted and tied 
outside a war-bundle, was given me as an 
ancient relic. In one bundle figures of the 
Thunderers in human form, carved on 
blocks of wood, were seen, and, in one only, 
a braided bast prisoner-tie, with quilled 
tassels, was found. This was the solitary 




INDIAN NOTES 



■ WAR -BUNDLES 


313 


case of a prisoner-tie noted by the writer in 
perhaps as many as twenty-four war- 
bundles collected among the ^Menomini, 
although these articles are common enough 
in Sauk, Fox, and Southern Siouan bundles. 

In the detail of always having an outer 
wrapping composed of a reed mat, the 
Menomini bundles resemble those the writer 
has seen or collected among the Potawatomi, 
but not those of the Sauk and Fox, which 
usually have an outer covering of deerskin. 
The Iowa and the Oto, while sometimes 
using a mat for purposes of external wrap- 
ping, seem to prefer a cover of deerskin. 
The Osage and the Kansa have an inner 
mat wrapper, but the whole is enveloped in 
a wallet woven of buffalo-hair. It may 
well be added that the bundles of the Oto, 
Osage, and Kaw resemble one another as 
distinct from the Sauk, Fox, Potawatomi, 
and ^lenomini type. 

An owner of a war-bundle can, and indeed 
often does, sell his bundle or a part of it to 
another, especially as the burden of keep- 
ing the palladium placated in times of 
peace, by means of feasts and sacrifices, is 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





314 



ME NO MIX I CULTURE 



heavy. Bundles must be secluded from 
women undergoing their menses, and must 
be treated with respect by all comers. 

Warclubs 

Two types of warclubs were commonly 
used by the Menomini. These were the 
ball-headed weapon, called pa'^ku'egus, with 
or without a spike in the knob, and the flat 
"gun-butt" or "rabbit's hind-leg" variety, 
called pasahd'nakus (pi. lxxxiv, c). This 
form may originally have had a stone celt 
set in it, just at the turn of the outer 
angle of the blade. A variant of this type, 
itself an ancient variety, is shown in pi. 
Lxxxm. Clubs of this less angular kind are 
depicted by John White as in use among the 
Algonkians of Virginia at the time of the 
first settlements in that district. The bird 
figure in beads, attached to an ornament 
tied to the club, represents a Thunderer, one 
of the gods of war and a notable patron of 
fighting men. All warclubs for practical 
use average about two feet in length. 

The Menomini still retain as ancestral 
heirlooms clubs that date back many gen- 



IXDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




BROOM MADE FROM A CEDAR POST 
Photograph by courtesy of the .\merican Museum of Natural History 




erations. PL 

Lxxxiv, a, 

shows one 

obtained 

from John 

Amob, which is supposed to 

have been worn by a warrior 

named A'sikwonat at the siege 

of Wawaie'tonon, or Detroit. 

It is of the ball-headed type, 

and does not show the skill in 

workmanship displayed in some 

specimens. 

The fine old specimen shown 
in fig. 54 betrays its age by 
the high poUsh due to much 
manipulation. The handle is 
more angular than usual, and 
the neck drops to an exagge- 
rated degree. The head has 
been weighted with lead at 
some time subsequent to its 
making. The Menomini Wa'- 
niskum, from whom it was 
obtained, declared that it had 
been used in many victorious 



11 



.m 






P5 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



316 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




battles against ^ the Sauk and Fox. On 
the handle, inlaid in small white beads, is 
the figure of a plumed warrior, bearing a 
lance. 

Miniature warclubs, of both the types 
described, are made and carried by such 
men as are supposed to have descended 
from the Thunderers, or who have these 
beings as their dream-guardians. The 
clubs are supposed not only to assure their 
owners supernatural protection, but because 
of their magic properties to be efficacious 
in actual combat. Such clubs are kept in 
the lodge or carried on the person. Of 
course, some persons who "bear the feath- 
ered name" or are "in league with the 
Thunder," are not restricted to the tiny 
models, but may make and keep real war- 
clubs. Old Ki'tikon, well remembered 
by the writer, had a ball-headed club of 
larger size than usual, with two knife 
blades of steel affixed in the under circum- 
ference of the knob. This he constantly 
bore with him as the result of an injunc- 
tion received from the Morning Star dur- 
ing his puberty dream. 




INDIAN NOTES 



WARCLUBS 



317 



Warclubs of both types, when ceremonial 
in origin, are frequently painted red on one 
side and black on the other, with the signifi- 
cance treated in this article at greater 
length (see p. 346), of eternity, symbolizing 
the lasting character of their supernatural 
patrons. Warclubs are often lashed on the 
outside of sacred war-bundles, and are 
frequently carried by their owners when on 
parade, or during dances. For the latter 
purpose, specially carved and painted 
models of very light wood, sometimes bear- 
ing flashing mirrors, are made. 

The elders speak of a type of warclub, a 
specimen of which I once saw, owned by 
Kine'sa. This was a slungshot, made by 
covering a small, heavy, round stone with 
rawhide, and attaching it loosely by a thong 
to a short leather- covered handle of wood 
about six inches long. The weapon was 
carried by a thong which was slipped over 
the wrist. As the :Menomini regard pebbles 
and similar small concretions as thunder- 
bolts, or eggs, such weapons as the slungshot 
are no doubt supposed to have additional 
value, in that they struck the enemy with 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



318 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



the power of the hghtning. The writer has 
seen stone-headed clubs, somewhat similar 
to these described, but longer handled, 
among the Winnebago. In pi. lxxxiv, b, 
is shown a light trade axe or tomahawk. 

Grooved stone axes 
were used chiefly to 
lop branches for fire- 
wood, but were occa- 
sionally used as 
weapons, and one of 
these latter is shown 
in fig. 55. This was a 
gift to the writer from 
the late Indian Court 
Judge Sabatis Perrote, 
who stated that it 
was an heirloom in 
his family. He added 
that it had once been hafted and used as a 
club, and that it had survived as an attach- 
ment to the outside of a war-bundle for 
many generations before its handle rotted 
and fell apart. It is now in the American 
Museum of Natural History. Philip Na- 
ku'ti once told the writer that his parents 




Fig. 55. — Grooved stone 
axe. (I size.) Courtesy 
of the American Museum 
of Natural History. 



INDIAN NOTES 




< s 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. LXXXV 




BUFFALO-HIDE AMMUNITION POUCH AND POWDER HORN 



SHIELD S— K X IVES 



319 



described the method by which grooved axes 
were made. The groove was pecked in 
with a small pebble held in the hand. 
Grooved axes, celts of stone, and celts of 
copper are found on the ancient village-sites 
on Green bay. A bell-shaped stone celt 
was once picked up by the writer at Big 
Suamico. 

Shields and KxrvES 

Some old Indians state that in former 
days warriors carried small, round shields 
of buffalo-hide, but none of these shields 
has been in existence for a long time, and 
most of the best informants deny that the 
tribe ever used shields. The custom is 
depicted among the Sauk and Fox by 
Cathn, but seems to have been abandoned 
by the Central tribes soon after his paintings 
w'ere made. The Menomini speak of the 
buffalo shields as being particularly com- 
mon among their enemy the Osage. The 
Menomini beheve they did not need shields, 
since they used the war-bundles for pro- 
tection. 

Knives were worn in a sheath suspended 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



320 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




by a short cord around the neck and rest- 
ing on the chest. The weapon thus placed 
could be more readily seized in case of 
attack. Knife sheaths were handsomely 
embroidered with porcupine-quills and tufts 
of dyed deer's hair. Latterly, since the 
cessation of intertribal warfare, knives 
have been worn at the belt. The sheaths 
are made of saddle-leather, ornamented 
with brass-headed tacks or woven bead- 
work. Sometimes the skin of the lower leg 
of a deer with the hoof attached is utilized. 
In prehistoric days, knives finely chipped 
of flint, or made of sharp bone, or of native 
copper, are said to have been in vogue. 

Bows AND Arrows 

While the Menomini of today insist that 
their grandfathers used only long, simple 
bows, of hickory or of ash, in Hoffman's 
time there were some of the older men who 
claimed to have seen bows made by mem- 
bers of their own tribe "consisting of two 
pieces of wood, glued together lengthwise, 
and wrapped at intervals with buckskin or 
sinew."i« 




INDIAN NOTES 



BOWS 



321 



In making a bow for hard service 
it is necessary to select strong, 
resilient wood, and for this purpose 
a hickory was usually chosen. A tree 
was felled and the implement was 
blocked out with an axe according to 
the grain of the wood. The rough 
form was then carried home, where 
it was dressed down to final shape 
with the crooked knife, rubbed with 
bear's grease, and put away to 
season. Bows are sized at intervals 
with deer's brains to keep them from 
cracking. Some bows are rather 
elaborately finished, and fig. 56 
shows one of these which bears near 
one end twenty-five tally notches. 

The woods preferred for bow- 
making were, in order of choice, 
shagbark hickory or nishkaha' kdo ; 
two other unidentified varieties of 
hickory, both called nana'tcko; white 
oak, tlske"tinie^; elm, ane'p; and 
hemlock, miusiM'kawd. 

In olden times the bows were 
made perfectly straight, not bent, 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



322 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




and it was considered best not to draw the 
string back too far when shooting, as, in 
that case, the arrows were supposed not to 
fly so sure. 

For use in battle, arrowheads were often 
made of turtles' claws. These were at- 
tached with sturgeon glue, and were sup- 
posed to strike the enemy with the magic 
power of the turtle as well as with the force 
of the bow. Such arrows were named 
ma'nano'kwutdo, and, if the speaker wished 
to particularize further, since bear- or 
panther-claws were sometimes utiHzed, he 
prefixed the name of the animal. Only 
those who had dreamed the right could be 
successful with such arrows, and then only 
against human targets. 

Stone arrowheads were used in both war 
and hunting, white flint or quartz being 
preferred. Old Menomini claim that these 
stone points readily penetrated flesh, but 
were stopped by contact with bone. This, 
they say, was not the case with points of 
antler bone, which were tougher and less 
brittle. The latter varieties were made in 
hollow, conical shape, and were for the 




INDIAN NOTES 



ARROWS 



323 



chase alone. Copper points were semi- 
sacred and were for war. Bone-headed 
arrows were called by the same name as 
those with claw tips. 

Although the elders declare that it has 
not been many generations since the INIeno- 
mini were skilled in the art of chipping 
flint arrowpoints, there is no one now living 
who is acquainted with the process. Some 
think that a man was instructed, in a 
dream, how to manufacture them, and 
others add that it was customary for the 
ancestors to boil the flint in the grease of 
large and powerful animals, such as the 
elk and the moose, now extinct within the 
limit even of primitive Menomini territory. 
It is thought that when so treated "the 
flint could be cut like cheese." Seneca 
Iroquois of New York have told the writer 
that their ancestors boiled flint with cer- 
tain herbs to make it fracture more easily. 
In hafting heads of stone the distal end 
of the arrowshafts was broadened and flat- 
tened, and a deep slot made in it to retain 
the head, which was bound on with sinew 
and held fast with glue. Fig. 57 shows two 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



324 



MENOMINI CULTURE 




Fig. 57. — Hafted arrows. (Diameter of shafts, | in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



A R R O W S 



old specimens, made and kept for 
many years by John Amob as the 
result of instructions received in a 
dream. The heads he picked up, 
but the shafting was done accord- 
ing to tradition. " Wild Jim Crow," 
or So'man Jim. several times 
showed the writer his set of stone- 
headed arrows hafted in this way, 
with which he assured me he had 
killed bear and deer. He used 
a long and powerful bow, and had 
also a quantity of iron- or steel- 
headed arrows. These, too, are no 
longer to be had. 

In former times, as at present, 
arrows intended for hunting large 
game, or for war were feathered 
{hana'watdo) with three longitud- 
inal strips made of split hawk- or 
turkey-feathers (fig. 57, h), about 
three to four inches long, bound on 
at the ends with a sinew. The 
feathers were made fast with glue Fig. 58.— 

. r 1 Glue-Stick. 

concocted from the tips ot the (Length, 
antlers, and the hoofs of deer. " ^"' 



325 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



326 MENO MINI CULTURE 



When boiled down, this glue was kept in a 
lump on the end of a stick six or eight inches 
long, which served later as a handle in heat- 
ing and in applying the substance. Fig. 58 
shows a typical example of a glue-stick. 
Warren says in his History of the O jib- 
ways : 

"The old men tell of using a kind of arrow in 
hunting for the larger animals in those primi- 
tive days, which I have never seen described 
in books. The arrow is made with a circular 
hole bored or burnt in the end in which was 
loosely inserted a finely barbed bone. Being 
shot into an animal, the arrow would fall off, 
leaving the barb in the body, and as the animal 
moved this would gradually work into its vitals 
and soon deprive it of life.''^^ 

This paragraph may perhaps explain the 
peculiar shape of some wooden arrows now 
used by the IVIenomini only as toys. They 
resemble arrows collected by the writer 
among the northern Saulteaux, which corre- 
spond in turn to those described by Warren. 
Arrows tipped with stone or with copper 
are frequently mentioned in iMenomini 
folklore and mythology. On the ancient 
]\Ienomini village-sites at the Suamicos 



INDIAN NOTES 



ARROWS 



and at Oconto, are found triang- 
ular, stemmed, and notched ar- 
rowheads of white quartz and 
colored flints. IMany were ser- 
rated finely and must have been 
formidable weapons. Hoftman 
says that the IMenomini of his 
time claimed that their ancestors 
smeared their arrowheads with 
rattlesnake venom. 

Several varieties of blunt ar- 
rows were and are used (fig. 59) 
for small game. These were of 
the blunt form called pikwu'kuic, 
with or without a nipple on the 
end; of a double-headed form 
named papakenekwutd'o; and of 
a plain, sharpened, and fire- 
hardened . wooden form, called 
asikunekwuid'o. 

The Menomini used the terti- 
ary arrow- release of Morse, as 
shown in the Handbook of 
American Indians, which is rather 
odd, since the neighboring 
Ojibwa use the primary and the 



327 



Fig. 59.— 
Blunt arrosv. 
(Diameter of 

shaft, I in.^ 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



328 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 




Fig. 60.— Quilled quiver. (Length, 32 in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



QUIVERS 


329 


secondary releases. Bow-strings are made 
of heavy, tanned, deerskin thongs, although 
Hoffman states erroneously that they were 
made of sinew. 

The old quiver illustrated in fig. 60 is one 
in the collection of the Museum of the 
American Indian, Heye Foundation, which, 
from the style of the quilled ornamenta- 
tion, closely resembles that found on Me- 
nomini otter-skin medicine-bags, and from 
the general form, common among the Cen- 
tral Algonkians, has been ascribed to the 
Menomini. No quivers have been made 
nor used by the tribe for a long time. 

^lodern hunting outfits are composed of 
the most up-to-date sporting paraphernalia 
to be purchased, but some conservative In- 
dians still use old-fashioned percussion-cap 
rifles. There are yet to be seen among them 
ammunition bags made of buffalo-skin or 
saddle leather, consisting of a shoulder 
pouch, a powderhorn, an antler powder- 
charger, small pockets for caps and wads, 
pouches for shot, and a knife-sheath (pi. 
Lxxxv) . The writer has a leather pouch for 
caps and balls of more aboriginal character 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





330 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




which was given him by a Menomini friend 
as a reHc of the famous chief Oshkosh, whose 
possession it once was. It is of plain tanned 
deerskin, about a foot long and three or four 
inches wide, made by folding a strip of 
leather lengthwise and sewing up one side 
with a deerskin thong. The bag folds in the 
middle to hang over the belt, and thus has 
two lobes, each of which is accessible 
through a longitudinal slit, resembling a 
double saddle-bag. The ends are slightly 
fringed. I have collected beaded speci- 
mens of this type among the Wahpeton 
Sioux, once friends of the Menomini. 

Vocabulary 

Mell'kwop, bow. 

7nefiku'ope'sa, tiny ceremonial bow. 

niep, arrow. 

SCULPTURE 

The ornamental art of the IMenomini, 
and as usual of all their Central Algonkian 
and Southern Siouan neighbors, comprises 
not only embroidery in quill- and bead- 
work, silk ribbon applique, painting on 
skin, wood, and bark, and designs woven 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINl CULTURE 



PL. LXXXVl 






STATUE OF THE GOD WA"BANO 
Height, 3 ft., lOf in. 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




WOODEN PUPPET USED FOR PURPOSES OF MAGIC 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



SCULPTURE 



331 



in textiles, but sculpture in wood, and for- 
merly in bone, antler, and stone. Sculpture 
proper was limited to the production of 
statues and statuettes of animal or anthro- 
pomorphic guardians of individuals. 

A statue of the god Wa'hano, the ]\Iorn- 
ing Star, is shown in pi. lxxxvi. This 
figure, once the property of the late father 
of KimeSMin Oke'mas, who was a noted 
shaman of the Wa'hano cult, is crudely 
hewn from a log in nearly life-size, and pre- 
sents the head and armless trunk of the 
deity. The eyes and mouth were once 
painted, but the pigment has weathered 
away. The idol now measures 3 ft. lOf in. 
in height, but has lost several inches of its 
basal portion, which has rotted. This image 
formerly stood upright at the eastern side of 
the old shaman's wig^'am in the deep forest, 
a few miles from the so-called pagan settle- 
ment of Zoar, on the ]\Ienomini reservation. 
It represents the dream-guardian of the 
owner and was regarded as highly sacred 
by him, and, indeed, by all the neighboring 
Indians. Sacrifices were offered and feasts 
made in its honor several times each year. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



332 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




On such occasions it was repainted and 
adorned with clothing, eagle-feathers, and 
offerings of caHco and of bright-colored 
cloths. No profane eye was allowed to 
behold it, and the welfare, if not the very 
existence of the owner, depended on its 
good will. Another ruder image of the 
same sort stands behind the lodge of Wi'sa- 
nokut Mo'sihat, not far from the village of 
Keshena. The writer knows of no other 
examples of large statues among either the 
Menomini or their neighbors. 

CURVING 

In pi. Lxxxvii-Lxxxix may be seen 
examples of small wooden puppets used 
by the Indians, mainly for purposes of 
magic. They are decidedly better carved 
than the large figures previously described, 
and possess the usual human complement of 
arms and legs. The heads are often made 
separately and pivoted on the trunks so 
that they turn, but the limbs are carved of 
the same piece as the body, and are there- 
fore rigid, hence the name mun'ninisa (plu- 
ral muzinini' suk) , "solid" or "rigid being." 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




WOODEN PUPPET USED AS A LOVE CHARM 
Photograph by courtesy of the American ;Museum of Natural History 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. LXXXIX 




WOODEN PUPPET USED AS A LOVE CHARM 

Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



PUPPETS 


33vS 


Some of these puppets are regarded as 
guardians of health and as personal or 
family gods of good will. In this case 
they are tucked carefully awa}' in many 
wrappings and swaddlings, to which bits 
of bright-colored cloth, etc., with, of course, 
the inevitable tobacco, are added to keep 
them in good humor and to "attract" gifts 
of the same articles to the home. They 
maintain the family in good health and 
spirits, grant success in hunting and fish- 
ing, and soften the hearts of visitors so that 
they make presents to their hosts. There 
are set prayers to, and songs in honor of 
these figurines, and feasts are made periodi- 
cally in their behalf. The custom is fol- 
lowed widely among the Central Algonkians, 
and runs as far east as the Shawnee and 
the Delawares. 

Puppets of this type are used to destroy 
enemies. Just as the Salem witches were 
supposed to make and torment images of 
their victims, and thus assail the originals 
by sympathetic magic, so does the ^Meno- 
mini sorcerer get out his doll, name it after 
his intended prey, and, having invoked his 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





334 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




familiar demon with songs, prayers, food, 
and tobacco, proceed to torture or slay the 
effigy, secure in the beHef that like disaster 
will overwhelm his enemy. 

Two puppets of large size, carefully carved 
of wood, are shown in pi. lxxxviii and 
Lxxxix. They are dressed in elaborate gar- 
ments and swaddlings. Like others of 
their kind, their purpose is to keep a man 
and his wife faithful to each other. They 
are named for the contracting parties and 
tied up together face to face. In the breast 
of each is an opening in which are .placed 
various love medicines, including, it is said, 
powder made from a dried and pounded 
human heart. The specimens under dis- 
cussion were obtained by the writer from 
an old woman named Kopai'as Weke, of the 
Zoar settlement. The figurines had 
brought and bound to her no fewer than 
four husbands, but so great was their 
power that each unfortunate spouse died 
shortly after marriage. When the last, 
Thomas Hog, a favorite informant of the 
writer's, passed away, kopai'as decided that 
the charm was too potent, and turned it 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




WOODEN PUPPETS BOUND TOGETHER AS A LOVE CHARM 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural Historj- 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 



OWL CARVED IN WOOD 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



PUPPETS 


335 


over to the collector. Ukemd'ii'as, the most 
powerful luck-charm extant, compounded 
of vermilion and the glistening scales of the 
horned snake (bits of mica), are arnong the 
ingredients added to the pounded hearts to 
make this medicine what it is. 

In pi. xc is shown a love-charm composed 
of two small, neatly carved, wooden figures, 
bound together face to face, with love- 
powder between them. A hair, a nail 
paring, or even a shred of the clothes of the 
person desired is inserted between the two, 
the proper song is sung, and the victim is 
powerless to resist the spell. Oddly enough, 
the old ]\Ienomini warriors' coiffure, the 
roach, is carved on both dolls. The at- 
tached beaded bag is intended to hold medi- 
cines. The little figures are only about 
four inches high. 

An owl, carved in wood, is reproduced 
sitting on its sacred post, in pi. xci. This 
specimen, now in the American ^Museum of 
Natural History, was obtained by the 
writer from the late Pitwa'skum. It was 
an evil charm, and was set on its stake, 
driven in the ground, during the perform- 




1 

AND MONOGRAPHS 





336 



MENOMINl CULTURE 



ance of certain rites of sorcery, with the 
intent to kill human beings by magic. The 
sculpture is a rather spirited attempt to 
portray the barred or "hoot" owl, and is 
about ten inches in length. The post on 
which the bird is pivoted is about two and a 
half feet high. 

Wooden and even stone bowls WTre some- 
times carved to represent animals. Fig. 61 




Fig. 61. — Wooden bowl carved to represent a porcupine. 

(Extreme length, 8f in.) 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 

shows a wooden bowl cut in the shape of a 
porcupine. Handles of spoons and ladles 
(pi. xcii) were decorated with sunilar figures. 
A horse's head carved as a handle on a 
small dish of red catlinite used for sacrificial 
tobacco is exhibited in pi. xciii. 

The carving of flattened figures was even 
more extensively practised among the 



INDIAN NOTES 



O 3 

o I 



> o 

< £ 



CARVING 



Menomini and their neighbors than sculp- 
ture in the round. Bone, antler, and wood 
were the materials used. Dice cut from 
thin bone or antler were sometimes made to 
represent Thunderbirds or animals, such as 
turtles. PL xciv gives a series of these. 

Carving in Relief 

On flat, wooden surfaces incised floral 
and realistic designs, evidently copied from 




Fig. 62. — Carved moccasin patterns. (Length, about 

12 in.) 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 

textiles, are sometimes seen, usually further 
beautified by the addition of paint rubbed 
in the incisions. Fig. 62, a, b, represents 



337 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



338 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




two boards of the kind placed under leather 
when cutting out the patterns for mocca- 
sins. The designs are ships, a fish, houses, 
joined hearts, and other native and acquired 
ideas. They are in the American Museum of 
Natural History. 

Similar carving is found on looms, or 
rather heddles, used in weaving beadwork 
(pi. xcv), and on articles of antler and of 
bone, such as the moose-antler comb-case 
in figs. 8 and 9. Floral designs and "war- 
clubs" or ''lacrosse racquets" may be noted 
on the canoe paddle in fig. 63. This paddle, 
which is 31 in. long, is in the American 
Museum of Natural History. Carved orna- 
mentation also occurs on the handles of 
lacrosse sticks and shinny clubs. 

All the carved designs figured are by no 
means confined to the IMenomini, but are 
found generally distributed among the 
neighboring tribes, except for the concept 
of the statue as exemplified in that of 
Wa'hano. This seems peculiar to the 
IMenomini . 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




DICE CARVED OF BONE OR ANTLER 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 





■z. ^ 



> u 
CC 'C 

< i 
"I 

CO 4J 
llJ 43 



CARVING 



339 




Fig. 63. — Canoe paddle, obverse and reverse. (Length, 

31 in.) 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



340 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




PAINTING AND ETCHING 

Portraits of men, animals, and manitous 
are sometimes painted on robes and 
scratched or etched on wood or bark. The 
writer once collected a war-bundle from the 
late Pitwa'skum which had, instead of the 
usual white fetus-skin wrapper, a tanned 
buckskin upon which were drawn, in archaic 
Algonkian style, in several colors, the gods 
connected with the bundle and all their 
powers. This was illustrated and de- 
scribed at length in the writer's article on 
Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles of the 
Menomini Indians,^^ and is shown in pi. 
xcvi. This is the best example which has 
yet come to my notice from any of the 
Central tribes. 

Drawings on birch-bark, particularly as 
mnemonic reminders of Mitd'wm formulae, 
are not unknown, and four fine examples of 
these are given and described by the writer 
in the paper above referred to. These, and 
similar etchings on wood, are now rare in 
the tribe. 

PL xcvii represents head-posts or markers 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




(;^l'up^^ 




WAR-BUNDLE WRAPPER OF DEERSKIN ADORNED WITH 
DRAWINGS 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




/ / 





GRAVE-POSTS, ETCHED AND PAINTED 



ETCHING 


341 


from graves. In b, the totem animal, a 
bear, is inverted, as is always done to 
indicate death, and the horizontal bands of 
red paint indicate coups counted by war- 
riors at the funeral. In a, a similar stick 
is illustrated, the totemic animal this time 
being a chicken, indicative that the de- 
ceased was of mixed blood. Through 
neglect on the part of the maker it is not 
inverted. In c, we have an example in 
which the animal, a turtle, is etched in the 
wood, but it was also originally painted 
with vermilion. Fig. 64 shows a similar 
grave-post of the Bear gens, the human 
figures representing slain enemies. The 
average height of these grave-posts is about 
two feet. 

Fig. 65 represents a stake used in certain 
witch-bundle ceremonies. It is hollowed 
at the top, the cavity being a receptacle 
for medicine. Two human figures, male 
and female, are etched on its sides, and 
these are used in incantations to bewitch 
people. The turkey-beard attached is a 
potent evil charm. 


■ 


AND MONOGRAPHS 





342 



MENOMINI CULTURE 






m 






Fig. 64. — Grave-post. 
(Height, 28 in.) 



Fig. 65. — Sorcerer's stake. 
(Height, 15| in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



DYES 


343 


In fig. 66 is shown a Menomini anthropo- 
morphic concept of thunder, incised on a 
block of wood taken from a war-bundle. 
It represents either a man imbued with 
thunder-power or a Thunderer in human 
form. This is now in the American ]Museum 
of Natural History. 






^ 




Cm 

nui 
col 


Fig. 66. — Anthropomorphic concept of thunder. 

(Height of figure, 3 in.) 
irtesy of the American Museum of Natural Hist 

DYES 

rhe :Menomini are acquainted wit 
Tiber of native dyes which they use 
oring mats, porcupine-quills, and o 


ory. 

h a 
for 

ther 


AND MONOGRAPHS 





344 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




articles. Green is thought by them to 
have been inaccessible before white contact, 
but Mr M. R. Harrington assures me that 
the Sauk and Fox were possessed of a na- 
tive green dye, so that it is highly probable 
that the jNIenomini had some now forgotten 
means of obtaining this shade. All vegetal 
colors were obtained by boihng the ingre- 
dients. The following Hst of dyes and their 
names was recorded: 

Yellow, wasau'ii'tk, obtained from sumac roots, 
and also from another unidentified plant. 

Red, sosa'kwtk, from bloodroot. It was also 
secured by grinding or pulverizing hema- 
tite between two stones. It was some- 
times called papitcikoive' . 

Dark red, mnislkosawa, or sosa'wik, from hem- 
lock-bark. 

Black, api'shik, apa'ntk, or a/?w/"', from butter- 
nut-bark, and for an intense shade, butter- 
nut-bark boiled with blue clay. 

Blue, aski'pitktk kami'kwut, literally 'green like 
the clouds.' 

Green, aski'pukik. 

White, u'ai'abtskit. 

IMUSICAL INSTRU.AIENTS 
Drums 

Among Menomini musical instruments, 
those of percussion easily take first place. 




INDIAN NOTES 



W ATE R-D R U ^I 


345 


Three varieties of drums are still in com- 
mon use, of which the most important, 
from a ceremonial point of view, is the deep 
water-drum, or to'waka. This is an ancient 
form, which appears time and again in the 
mythology of the tribe, and is associated 
with all the origin myths of the Mitd'unn, or 
]\Iedicine Dance ceremony. It is made by 
laboriously hollowing out a two-foot sec- 
tion of a whitewood log, and fitting in a 
thin, wooden disc at the base. TJie head 
is not made of rawhide, but, unlike those of 
all other drums, is composed of a heavy 
piece of tanned deerskin cut from the neck of 
a buck, where the skin attains its greatest 
thickness. This head, which is about 
eighteen inches in diameter, is stretched 
and held in place by means of a wooden 
hoop made of a willow branch squared and 
lashed in place, and pushed over the top, 
and down on the body of the drum. When 
it is desired to prepare the drum for use, 
from two to four fingers' depth of water, 
to which tobacco is added to please the 
genius of the drum, is poured into the bot- 
tom of the instrument; the head, otherwise 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





346 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



soft and incapable 
of resonance, is 
then wet, wrung 
out, and stretched. The Indians 
say that the water in the drum 
ffl4M throws the sound to a great dis- 
tance, whereas it does not make 
so much noise near at hand. The 
depth of the water is regulated by 
means of a hole and a plug at one 
side near the bottom (pi. xcviii, b). 
The water-drum is often dec- 
orated by two parallel, horizontal 
bands of blue, or green, and red 
paint, near the base. These colors 
symbolize day and night, summer 
and winter, joy and sorrow, life 
and death, and hence eternity, 
which in turn signifies the lasting 
character of the Medicine Lodge, 
whose devotees attain life in the 
Hereafter. In the ceremonies of 
the Lodge this drum is used ex- 
FiG. 67.— clusively, although its use is 

Drumstick for r- ^ , 

water -drum, not coniined to thesc rites, 
in.r^ ' ' For beating the water-drum. 



INDIAN NOTES 





if 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 




DRUM AND STICK OF THE ^^'BANO CULT 
Photographs by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural Hi.tory 



DREAMERS' DRUM 


347 


a stick about a foot long with the distal end 
curved downward is used. In many speci- 
mens the striking end of the stick is carved 
to represent the head of the loon, or of some 
other animal (fig. 67). When traveling, the 
owner of a water-drum carries it in a large 
bag of white cloth, closed by a draw- 
string, with tasseled ends of bright-colored 
yarn. It is probable that similar recep- 
tacles of plain tanned deerskin were for- 
merly made. For further data and illustra- 
tions of other articles used in the Medicine 
Dance, the reader is referred to the writer's 
paper entitled Medicine Ceremony of the 
Menomini, Iowa, and Wahpeton, Indian 
Notes and Monographs, vol. I\'. 

A huge and elaborately decorated drum, 
called td'wdhigitn, is used only in the rites 
of the Society of Dancing Men, popularly 
called the "Dreamers." This is not an 
ancient form, and all specimens seen by 
the writer have been made over a foundation 
composed of a large galvanized iron wash- 
tub with the base cut out. Over the top 
and the bottom are stretched raw calfskin 
heads under the uppermost of which a 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





348 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




sleigh- or cow-bell is hung. The heads are 
painted half red and half blue, or green, 
according to custom. The sides are fes- 
tooned with beadwork in woven belts or 
bands, and with perforated silver coins. 
At four equidistant intervals are placed 
leather loops, so that the drum when in ser- 
vice may be suspended from four elegantly 
beaded stakes, or supports; for this drum, 
unlike the water-drum, is never permitted 
to touch the ground. Between the sup- 
ports are small, decorative, beaded flaps, 
generally bearing figures of human hands or 
heads. When the drummers desire to beat 
the head of this, or of any other type of 
drum possessing a membrane of rawhide, 
the head is first heated before the fire. The 
drumsticks are wrapped with beads and 
strips of otter-fur, with cloth padding at the 
striking end. 

When not in use this drum is kept in a 
shrine built in a corner of the wigwam or 
log cabin of one of the devotees belonging 
to the local branch of the Dreamers which 
owns the drum. As it is sacred it is never 
left without an attendant; and, as the drums 




INDIAN NOTES 



WA'BANO DRUM 


349 


are always the common property of a cere- 
monial group, the writer has never been 
able to collect one. For further informa- 
tion as to the ceremonies of the Dreamers, 
consult the articles by Barrett and by 
Skinner on the Dream Dance.-^ 

A smaller type of drum is shown in pi. 
xcvni, a, which represents an instrument 
used in the so-called "Woman's Dance" 
recently introduced by the Winnebago. 
Little need be said of this drum save that, 
except in size and ornamentation, it almost 
duplicates the one just described. It is by 
no means regarded as sacred. 

The third and last variety of drum known 
to the Menomini is the tambourine drum, or 
tdwahigd'sa. These instruments, of fairly 
large size, that is eighteen inches to two feet 
in diameter, are used to accompany the 
singers at the moccasin game, but very 
much smaller specimens, six inches in diame- 
ter, or perhaps a trifle larger, are used by 
shamans of the Wa'hano and the Je"sako 
cults. While the ornamental painting on 
drums of this class used for pleasure is of 
a purely decorative character (pi. xcix), 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





350 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




those of the shamans bear esoteric figures, 




relating to the mystic dreams of their users. 
The tiny drum shown in pi. c was ob- 




^m. 




/^^^m^f^^m. 




^«m 








1 w ^ 




Fig. 68.— Tortoise charm attached to the Wa'bano drum. 
(Height. 8h in.) 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER— MENOMINI CULTURE 



PL. C 




TINY DRUM OF THE WA'BANO KIME'WUN 
Diameter. 9J in. 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




PLAYING THE LOVER'S FLUTE 
Photograph by courtesy of the Public Museum, Milwaukee 



W.VBANO DRUM 



tained from the estate of a noted Wa'hano 
named Kime'wun, and bears designs of 
unknown significance. It has attached to 
it a bunch of the tails of the woodchuck 
(Arctomys monax) which presumably have 
no meaning, and a small, dried, snapping 
tortoise {Chelydra serpen- 
tina), which is one of the 
mysterious animals from 
which the shaman's power 
was derived (fig. 68). In- 
side some Httle drums of 
this character, beads, seeds, 
pebbles, or shot serve to 
add a rattling noise. To 
many are attached the four 
sacred oka'nuk, short, hol- 
low, bone cylinders (fig. 69) 
swallowed by the conjurer to enable him 
to see through the body of a patient, and 
thus locate the cause of disease, and also to 
suck out sickness. The drumstick used with 
this drum is short and knobbed. 




Fig. 69.-Shaman's 
necklace. (Length 
of beads, about 2 in.) 



351 



AND ]\IONOGRAPHS 



352 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




Rattles and Jinglers 

The common form of ceremonial rattle is 

called shi'shikwun, and is made of a gourd, 

the pulp of which is removed while fresh. 

When the gourd has dried, a few shot, glass 

beads, seeds, or pebbles, are placed inside, 

and a wooden handle 

^^5aP»^^^^^^ is thrust lengthwise 

£ / ^^^v through the small end 

1/ ' ^ ^ '> i^fc^ of the hollowed shell 

1 1 ~ ^ ^ ',1 mH ^^ ^^^ broad distal 

^^ «v \li^K^ ^^^' which is pierced 

^^^SM^^^ by it, and is made fast 

^^^^P^ by means of a trans- 

^1 verse peg of wood (fig. 

II 70). If the gourd 

III splits or cracks a piece 
|j||. of the translucent in- 
^^ testinal integument of 

Fig. 70. — Gourd rattle. . , . . . , 

(Length, 8^ in.) some animal IS Stretch- 
ed over it while green, 
as is shown in the specimen figured. This 
dries hard, and closes the crack. The writer 
has never seen a Menomini gourd rattle 
ornamented in any way. When not in use, 




INDIAN NOTES 



RATTLES 



353 




Fig. 71. — Gourd rattle in conical case of bark. (Length, 
111 in.) 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



354 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



gourd rattles are often protected by a 
conical case or wrapping of birch-bark, 
which prevents damage should they fall 
from their hanging places in 
the lodge (fig. 71). 

Used for ceremonies of the 
most sacred sort, and especial 
ly for those connected with 
the medicine-bundles, are rat- 
tles made of deer-hoofs and 
dew-claws (fig. 72). These 
are threaded on fine buckskin 
thongs passed through a little 
hole bored in the point, and 
knotted to prevent their, slip- 
ing off the string. They are 
attached to a shank or handle 
a foot or less in length. The 
handle is whittled to a point 
at the proximal end, that the 
instrument may be thrust up- 
right in the ground at the con- 
clusion of the rites. Some examples, more 
elaborately carved than usual, have figures 
of Thunderbirds, or their heads, on the 
upper or distal ends. 




Fig. 72.— Deer- 
hoof and dew- 
claw rattle. 
(Length, 14^ in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



i 



JINGLERS 


355 


Jinglers made of cut deer-hoofs were 
formerly attached to garments, and, no 
doubt, to moccasins, but the only survivals 
which the writer saw were on ceremonial fur 
wrist-bands. The elders declare that the 
tinkle of these jinglers, called nani'hanen, 
worn by warriors during surprise attacks by 
night, was potent to lull the enemy to sleep. 
In modern time these attachments were 
supplanted by conical, metal jinglers, from 
which protruded scarlet-dyed deer-hair 
tufts. In form, the jinglers are exactly 
similar to those still picked up on historic 
Iroquois sites in New York state. 

In some bundle ceremonies the songs are 
accompanied by tapping together two sticks 
shaped like drumsticks. An ancient pair 
of these which were formerly kept in the 
great hunting medicine-bundle, known as 
misa'sakiwis, was once obtained by the 
writer. Age and much use had nearly 
worn them in two. 

Whistles and Flutes 

Whistles, six inches to a foot long, are 
made of reeds from the Mississippi valley, or 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





356 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 






Qll from split alder with the pith 




■^ 


Wjll removed. They give a feeble, 






^^M piping note, and are used in 




.s 


I^H ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ war-bundle cere- 




"=,2 


1 ^B "^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ Thunderers 




0\ 


^H to the assistance of the braves. 




ti 


jIB Flutes or flageolets are 




d. 


JH carved of two pieces of cedar, 




OJ 


flBW hollowed, carefully glued, and 




"in 


ilH lashed together. They are of 




1 


fi^B large size, measuring some two 




a 


e'BH feet or more in length and two 






;^H or two and one-half inches in 




"S 


y^l thickness. As these instru- 




1 


1 i| nients are used almost ex- 






^^ clusively in courting, they are 




1. 1 


^W highly prized, and usually 




6 jj^ 


pg handsomely ornamented with 






iJH strips of otter- or mink-fur 

^^S fastened around them in 

H bands. The slide by which 






fl the tone of the flageolet is 




1 


^^^m regulated, is often carved to 

^^M represent some animal of 

J^P especially amorous nature. 

^ Fig. 73, for example, shows a 




INDIAN NOTES 



1 



FLUTES 


357 


spirited stallion's head. It is notable that in 
general form these carved slides closely re- 
semble the problematical bird-stones of arch- 
eolog>'. Flageolets usually possess six holes, 
and it is the intention of the player in each 
instance to imitate as nearly as possible the 
actual words of the song he is rendering. 
If he is able to make his notes quaver as 
well, he is considered an artist (pi. ci). 
Flutes which have been used in successful 
courtships soon acquire a reputation for 
their power over female affections, and be- 
come in great demand among the youths. 
Such instruments are rented out at a good 
price. The native name of the flute is 
pipi'gu'un, and it finds frequent mention in 
folklore and in mythology. 

RFXEPTACLES FOR TOBACCO 
Origin of Tobacco 

According to the mythology of the 
^lenomini, tobacco was procured for the 
Indians by Md"ndhus, who instructed his 
uncles and his aunts, the people, to capture 
great quantities of grasshoppers and cause 
them to spit out the tobacco they were 




AND. MONOGRAPHS 





358 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 


• 


chewing. Of course this was a liquid, 
but the Indians kept it until it hardened 
in the form of plug tobacco. Moreover, 
up to the present time grasshoppers still 
spit tobacco, when they are caught, so that 
no one need doubt the truth of the story. 
As a matter of fact the Menomini not 
only do not grow tobacco but disclaim all 
knowledge of its cultivation, although it is 
raised by their neighbors the Woodland 
Potawatomi. Whether tobacco was un- 
known to them in olden times is a question 
which it is difficult to answer; they may 
have obtained it from their neighbors, or 
they may have smoked only substitutes in 
their stone and earthen pipes. The pos- 
session of the origin myth for tobacco, 
given above, may be taken as evidence con- 
tradicting the statements that they did not 
know the native herb, or it may be regarded 
as a modern folk explanation, especially as 
the custom of chewing tobacco seems to be 
a modern development. As to tobacco 
substitutes, they are still used, but chiefly 
to adulterate commercial tobacco. The 
^Menomini make use of the dried bark of 




INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




FRAME FOR DRYING K^'NIKINlV 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 




CO •- 



$0 



o 2 



TOBACCO 


359 


the red willow, and dried sumac leaves. 
Both these materials go by the popular 
name of kfnikintk, though the writer is 
in doubt as to whether the term is aboriginal 
in the language of this tribe. In preparing 
ki'nikinik, a rough Y-shaped frame about a 
yard long is cut from a small crotched sap- 
ling, and a crude coarse matting of bass- 
wood-bark is woven across the extended 
arms (pi. cii). On this the H'niktnik is 
spread, and thus dried over a fire. The 
frame is called apd'sawan; tobacco is 
termed nd"nemau. 

Sacrificial Dishes 

For holding tobacco sacrifices at shrines, 
and during ceremonies, elaborately carved 
dishes are often used. A small wooden 
bowl carved to represent a porcupine is 
shown in fig. 61. This receptacle was 
used to hold sacrificial tobacco in the family 
of Xawagi'sikwap for many generations. 
A more common form is represented in 
fig. 74. This is a flat platter of wood with 
incised decorations carved on the ends, and 
afterward rubbed with red paint. A rare 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





360 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



example is a small round bowl of catlinite 
with a projecting handle made to represent 
the head of a horse (pi. xciii). Sometimes 




Fig. 74. — Sacrificial platter with incised carving. 
12 in.) 



(Length, 



miniature wooden canoes are fashioned 
(fig. 75) exactly like real ones, except for 
their smaller size. These are carried in 




Fig. 75. — Miniature canoe, a charm against drowning. 
(Length, 9^ in.) 

accordance with warnings received in 
dreams, as charms against drowning, and 
serve to hold tobacco. 

Pipes 

The last vestige of the art of .working 
stone among the Menomini survives in the 
manufacture of stone pipes. As this people 
has* always been the -one Woodland Algon^ 



INDIAN NOTES 



PIPES 


361 


kian tribe uniformly friendly to the Sioux, 
they have always had access to the cathnite 
quarries of ^Minnesota, though the journey 
to that locality was so long, and lay through 
the range of so many hostile war parties, 
that the supply was limited, and the stone 
accordingly valued. Some small, rough, 
rectangular blocks of catlinite, quarried 
generations ago, are still treasured posses- 
sions of fortunate IMenomini individuals, 
who value each at one hundred dollars, or 
its equivalent in ponies. Notwithstanding 
the high price placed on the rough material, 
the blocks seen by the writer would not 
suflSce to make more than two pipes each, 
and finished pipe-bowls bear the value, 
usual in all the forested region, of five dol- 
lars apiece. A poorer quahty of catlinite, 
of a darker red than that from Minnesota, 
is found in certain localities in Wisconsin,^^ 
and this is freely utilized. As the writer 
has never had the good fortune to observe 
the Menomini process of pipe-making, or 
to be acquainted with one of that people 
skilled in the art, data on the process cannot 
be given, but it is to be presumed that it 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





362 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




differs little from that still employed by the 
Eastern Sioux, Menomini pipes are nearly 
always of the Siouan form. The women of 
this tribe do not often smoke miniature 
stone pipes, as do the women of the Ojibwa, 
but use the ordinary corn-cob and briar 
pipes of commerce. Large or small, the 
stone pipes seem usually to be the property 
of the men. 

The Menomini frequently inlay their 
pipes with pewter, other metals, or dark- 
colored stone, but the writer* does not 
recall having seen any dark stone pipes 
among them. Some of the larger pipes 
have floral or animal designs scratched on 
their sides. Some pipes are carved to rep- 
resent fish or other animals, and often have 
stone stems; but all those seen by the writer 
were probably obtained from the Sioux. 
No doubt the prehistoric pipes of the 
Menomini were of the curved-base monitor, 
pebble, and other types commonly found on 
archeological sites in Wisconsin, but for 
complete data on this subject one must 
turn to the collections made at the ancient 
sites of the tribe on Green bay. The 




INDIAN NOTES 



PIPES 


363 


writer has seen fragments of a rather orna- 
mental terracotta pipe, with fine, small, 
incised decoration, found on the formerh' 
occupied site at the junction of Little and 
Oconto rivers. 

The stems of the catlinite pipes are ordi- 
narily made of wood, and vary considerably 
in length, but most of them are about 
eighteen inches to two feet long. Those 
used in connection with pubHc ceremonies 
or "belonging" to the Dream Dance drum, 
are very much longer, sometimes reaching 
a length of four feet. The stems are often 
broad, flat, and thin, and are carved in 
open or lattice designs, and painted in 
various colors. In some cases the stem is 
carved spirally until it resembles an auger. 
PI. cin represents a series of pipe-bowls and 
stems. In former times pipe-stems -were 
adorned with porcupine-quills, but now 
strung or woven glass beads are used. 
Otter-fur strips are wound around the 
stems, and silver is used as inlay. War- 
and peace-pipes had a fan of eagle-feathers 
attached beneath the stems. 

The Menomini early obtained or made 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





364 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



pipe-bowls of metal. A war-pipe in the 
American Museum of Natural History, 
collected by the late Dr William Jones, 
has a bowl, rather pretty in design, of cast 
pewter. A brass pipe, in the collection of 
the Museum of the American Indian, Heye 
Foundation, is shown in pi. cm, b. 
It is the only specimen of this character 
that the writer has ever observed among 
any of the Woodland tribes. It is doubt- 
ful if the Indians ever made pipes of this 
nature, and from its well-made character 
the writer is inclined to ascribe it to the 
famous maker of pipe-tomahawks, Jour- 
dain. It was bought for the writer by 
John V. Satterlee from an Indian residing 
on the Menomini reservation, at Zoar 
settlement. For further treatment of 
Menomini pipes, and the prehistoric pipes 
of the ancient Menomini country, the reader 
is referred to the papers by Barrett^^ and 
by W^est.24 

Pipe-tomahawks are not uncommon 
among the Menomini, and are of iron, 
sometimes nickeled, and of brass. The 
heads have been obtained in trade from the 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 







w 



TOBACCO-POUCH WITH FLOWER DESIGN IN BEADS 
Length. 14 in. 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 




TOBACCO-POUCH OF WOVEN YARN 
Photograph by courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History 



POUCHES 


365 


whites, and the stems, ornamented \Yith 
fur strips, beadwork, silver inlay, or 
pyrography are made by the natives. The 
Indians also sometimes imitate the metal 
pipe heads in catlinite. In spite of the fact 
that these articles have such long associa- 
tion with things Indian, they are of w^hite 
origin and provenience, and therefore need, 
not be further described nor figured here. 

Vocabulary 

Apii'agun, pipe. 

maku'^asen apii'agun, redstone pipe. 
^puagiina'tik, pipe-stem. 
pe'tcinamaiian, tobacco-bag. 
na"nemau, tobacco. 

Bags and Pouches for Tobacco 

For holding tobacco a variety of styles of 
leather bags are made; but the variations lie 
mainly in the matter of size and in the 
arrangement of the puckering string, in 
accordance wdth devices common through- 
out the Woodland tribes. The general 
style of :Menomini tobacco-bags is that of a 
small, soft pouch, with a very short, plain 
fringe, entirely unlike the long and elabo- 




AXD MONOGRAPHS 





366 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 


• 


rate bags of the Plains tribes, which are 
made large enough to contain the pipe as 
well as the tobacco of the smoker. Meno- 
mini bags are frequently ornamented with 
the usual tribal style of conventionalized 
flower designs in beads. Plate civ gives a 
typical example. Such bags are commonly 
carried in the belt. Sometimes the draw- 
strings are ornamentally beaded. 

Tobacco-pouches are not uncommonly 
made from the skins of small mammals, 
such as skunks, woodchucks, mink, mar- 
ten, and kit otters. The skin is taken off 
entire, through a longitudinal slit a few 
inches in length made in the chest-band, 
and is carefully tanned. Such bags rarely 
bear any ornamentation, and may always be 
distinguished from medicine-bags by the 
fact that they do not have the symbolic 
tufts of dyed down thrust through the 
nostrils. 

Tobacco-pouches of woven yarn, with 
designs in white beads interwoven with the 
threads, were formerly worn around the 
neck and over the chest. A good example 
of one of these now rare articles is shown in 




INDIAN NOTES 



G A :m E s 




pi. cv. These pouches are also 
often seen among the Pota- 
watomi. 

Paraphernalia for Games 

Owing to the fact that the 
games of the ]\Ienomini have 
been already described in the 
section dealing with Social Or- 
ganization (see pages 56-58), 
nothing more than a brief re- 
capitulation will be given here. 
For lacrosse, sticks of two types 
are used (pi. cvi, h, and fig. 
76). The balls are of tanned 
deerskin, about the size of base- 
balls, and are stuffed with deer- 
hair (fig. 77). Both sticks and 
balls, particularly the latter, 
are often symbohcally painted 
in red and black. 

Shinny is played with a short, 
straight stick (fig. 78), and a 
double ball of leather (fig. 79), p-j^. 76.-Ordi- 
generallv painted red. For the "^jy lacrosse 

^ ' ^ stick. (Length. 

dice game, a round, wooden 3 ft. 10| in.) 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



367 



368 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



bowl and a set of bones or wooden 
dice (pi. xciv) are necessary. 
Six of the dice are discs; the 
rest are carved to represent half- 
moons, tortoises, or Thunderbirds, 
and are colored red, black, blue, 
or green 
on one 
side, and 
left white 
on the 
other. 

A short' 
form of 
the snow- 
snake (pi. 
c \' I , a) 
and a wooden wand with a 
slender shaft and a weight or 
knob at one end„are used for dis- 
tance hurling over the ice. The 
typical Algonkian cup-and-pin 
game, petcikona'hikun (pi. cvii), 
is played by the Menomini. The 
pin is of wood, the cups being 
made from the phalangeal bones 




Fig. 77. — Lacrosse ball. 
(Diameter, i\ in.) 



Fig. 78. 
Shinny stick. 
(Length, 24 
in.) 



INDIAN NOTES 



SKINNER — MENOMINI CULTURE 









a 






b 



SNOW-SNAKE, AND PONY-FOOT LACROSSE STICK 
Length of a, 36 in. 



< ^ 



< ^ 



GAMES 


369 


of the deer, ground down to hollow cones. 
This game is played only as a hunting- 
charm. Darts of wood, smok- f%ss^ 
ed while spirally wrapped ^ ifW 
with green bark to give a 1 Lf 
twisted decoration, are used 1 i 
by boys for distance throwing. |i I 
The moccasin game, though | -"^ 1 
popular at one time, is seldom A J 1 1 
played now. It needs no J :^ ^ 
special paraphernaHa. Bow- ^ ,^^p M 
and-arrow games are played ^i^^ erJ 
with miniature bows decora- ^^P 
tively painted in gay colors, fig. 79.-Shinny 
and blunt arrows. 2'5"in-.) ^'^'"°'^' 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





370 




yU. ARCHEOLOGY 

X LATE June, 1919, the writer. 

accompanied by his assistant. 

^Ir John V. Satterlee, and Dr S. 

A. Barrett of the Public ]\luseum 
of the City of ^lilwaukee. were enabled to 
visit several of the ancient ^Menomini vil- 
lage-sites along the west shore of Green bay, 
in Brown and Oconto counties, Wisconsin, 
through the kindness of Messrs J. P. Schu- 
macher and Xeville of the city of Green 
Bay. These gentlemen not only permitted 
the examination of their private collections, 
but also cooperated with ]Miss Deborah 
^Marten of the Kellogg Public Library of 
Green Bay in reviewing the collection there. 
The sites visited were Male Sim'mdko at 
Big Suamico, Siiamdko'sa at Little Suamico; 
Wasa'kiu, or High Banks, oh the Oconto 
river near the city of that name, and a 
series of other sites in its environs; also 
Pa^kd'nano' at the junction of Oconto and 



INDIAN NOTES 



VILLAGE-SITES 371 


Little rivers.' While of a cursorv' nature. 
these examinations brought out many inter- 
esting facts. 

First: The ancient habitat of the Meno- 
mini was situated under different physio- 
graphic conditions from those of their pres- 
ent reser\-ation. All their early towns were 
either on the lake shore at mouths of the 
Menominee, the Oconto, the Peshtigo, the 
Suamicos. and the Pensaukee. or on the 
banks of these streams, as a rule not ver\^ 
far inland. To this there were exceptions, 
however, for according to Menomini tradi- 
tion, and archeological e\-idence as well, 
there were early settlements inland on the 
Woh*, on the present reser\-e. a locahty 
easily reached by portage from the Oconto. 

At the time of white contact, and for a 
long time before and after, the former cul- 
ture of the IMenomini must have been al- 
most maritime, and stronglv differentiated 
from that of more recent years. It was 
essentially a culture of wild rice, fish, and 
lake products. 

Second: The Menomini were sedentar\-, 
living more or less permanently on their 




AND M 0X0 GRAPHS 





372 


MENOMINI CULTURE 


• 


principal sites, except for seasonal changes, 
as when they went far inland on their fall 
and winter hunts. Some of the Green bay 
sites have been occupied by the Menomini 
as far back as they have any tradition. 
Indeed, their origin myth speaks of the first 
Menomini coming out of the ground as a 
bear on the site at the mouth of the Menom- 
inee river. Subsequent to the arrival of 
white settlers, the tribe was dislodged by 
successive purchases from the old shoreHne 
home, and began to scatter and withdraw 
inland. The greater part of those who still 
dwelt on the old spots were moved to the 
present reservation in 1852 and the years 
immediately following. A few, principally 
of mixed blood, still remain. Two Indians 
by the name of Adams dwelt at Mate 
Sua'mdko, and an old woman, Mrs Misha'- 
kwut (Covered by Clouds), resided at High 
Banks in 1919. The relics on the sites 
therefore range from prehistoric to late his- 
toric times. 

Third: The type of culture indicated by 
the specimens obtained or seen goes to show 
that the Menomini belonged to the same 




INDIAN NOTES 



VILLAGE-SITES 


373 


group as the neighboring Green bay tribes, 
the Potawatomi, Ottawa, Sauk, Fox, and 
Winnebago. 

Fourth: Specimens from the sites exam- 
ined are identical with those obtained 
from the mounds opened by Dr Barrett and 
the writer on the present Menomini reser- 
vation in Shawano county. The form and 
decoration of the pottery in particular was 
the same. The ]\Ienomini sites, however, 
yielded objects of native copper, bone speci- 
mens, and pipes, not as yet reported from 
the mounds, and perhaps representing a later 
phase or local development of the same cul- 
ture. The fact that the Menomini in gen- 
eral deny that they ever made mounds 
means, very little. Fashions die out and 
are forgotten among all races. That not all 
IMenomini are of the same opinion regard- 
ing the non-use of mounds by their people 
may well be demonstrated by the following 
data: 

In June, 1920, Jim Paia'tckowit, or, 
properly Buna'i-giVik (Opposite Sky), in- 
formed the writer that there is a buffalo 
effig>' mound on the plains near the Peshtigo 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





374 


•ME NO MINI CULTURE 




river, not far from Sandstone falls, above 
Ellis Junction, Wis., close to the residence 
of a white man named Seymour. Buna'i- 
gi'zik declares that a war party of Ojibwa 
was traveling along the river; their leader 
had previously dreamt that some impor- 
tant object would be encountered on the 
march. About noon some members of his 
company observed a buffalo standing on a 
knoll, and recognized the animal as the ful- 
iilmerit of their partizan's dream. As the 
warriors gazed, the buffalo sank into the 
ground and vanished without leaving a 
track or sign. They made a mound there 
in the form of a buffalo, which still remains 
as a monument to this portent. Since 
then, Buna'i-gi'zik says, the Menomini 
have made similar mounds, in imitation of 
the original, in various parts of the territory, 
during the ceremonials in honor of the 
buffalo — perhaps that of the Buffalo Dance. 
The locahty on the Peshtigo is called 
by the Menomini Pishakipsanamakenikasit, 
"The Place Where the Buffalo is Outlined." 




INDIAN NOTES 



ARTIFACTS 


375 


TYPES OF SPECLMEXS FROM MEXO- 
MINI SITES 

The following objects were noted from 
the Menomini sites examined, but, as before 
stated, they are probably common to all the 
tribes in the neighborhood as well: 

Stone 

Grooved, and, possibly, fluted axes. 

Celts. 

Gorgets, principally the two-holed form. 

Winged bannerstones. 

Notched, stemmed, triangular, and serrated 

arrowpoints. 
Drills. 
Scrapers. 
Oval or leaf-shaped knives. 

Copper 
Knives. 

Arrows, socketed, stemmed, and notched. 
Celts. 
A copper bannerstone, of small size, is reported 

by :Mr Schumacher from Oconto. 
Fishhooks, awls, and beads. 

Clay 

Pointed-bottomed jars with decorations stamped 
with a cord-wrapped stick, or rarely, with 
incised chevrons. 

Pipes. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





376 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



The abundance, excellence, and variety of 
the stone-work, the scarcity of bone and 
horn material, and the pointed jars with 
stamped decoration made by the impression 
of the cord-wrapped stick, all link the 
Menomini with the Algonkian peoples far- 
ther east. Copper, too, in New York at 
least, is characteristic of Algonkian and not 
of Iroquois culture. 

While bone and antler are still used to 
some extent by the Menomini in the manu- 
facture of implements, stone and clay are 
things of the past, and so is native copper. 
However, traditions still persist about the 
use of these materials, and the kinds of 
objects made. In a few instances specimens 
have survived as heirlooms. According to 
Hofifman: 

"Previous to the advent of white traders, or 
before they were able to procure by purchase 
or barter beads of European manufacture, the 
Menomini claim to have m.ade large beads from 
shells found in the rivers of Wisconsin and on 
the shores of Green bay. Quite a variety of 
large and exceedingly beautiful freshwater shells 
occur in the rivers of Wisconsin, and it would 
be strange indeed if the natives did not utilize 
the iridescent pearl for ornamentation when at 



INDIAN NOTES 



ARTIFACTS 



377 



the same time they used them as knives. 
Among some of the old mita'v women large 
beads, together with the elongated shell beads 
purchased at traders' stores, are worn — beads 
of sufficiently, primitive appearance to induce 
one to believe the assertion that their people 
had made them. 

"These beads were evidently made from the 
thick portions, or perhaps joints, of freshwater 
mussels; they are of the size of buckshot, with 
a perforation drilled from each end toward the 
middle. The perforations being somewhat of 
funnel shape, and showing marked striae, would 
indicate that the drilling had been made with 
other than a metal instrument. On subsequent 
investigation respecting the manufacture of 
articles requiring perforation, I was informed 
that the ]Menomini used sharp-pointed pieces 
of quartz and jasper, rotating these rude drills 
with the hand and fingers."-^ 

In another place Hoffman says: 

"The Indians agree in the statement that 
the m.aking of stone weapons was discontinued 
by them four generations ago. Shu'nien re- 
members hearing the old people speak about 
the manner of using these stone objects. The 
knives vrere made of flint (hornstone), and were 
about 8 inches long, an inch and a half broad, 
and sharply pointed; some indeed were sharp 
enough to cut moose skin with ease. These 
implements were used in cutting meat, for 
scraping arrowshafts, and in making bows. 

"Some of the Menomini say that mussel- 
shells are used even today, when necessity de- 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



378 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



mands, both for spoons and for cutting. They 
are also sometimes used for scraping deerskin 
in tanning. The survival of the practice of 
thus using shells is not at all astonishing, for 
they serve the purpose as well as almost any- 
thing else, and thick strong shells of several 
species are abundant in Wisconsin. 

"Earthenware is no longer made by the 
Menomini, though some of the oldest women 
remember when pottery making was engaged 



The writer has fairly full data on the 
making of earthenware which are presented 
on pages 282-284. 

Existing Vocabulary for Ancient Artifacts 

A^sin mita'kun, stone scraper. 

a' sen kuski'kahikan, stone hide-scraper. 

oka'na, or okd'ne, bone awl. 

a' sen indna'ba, stone axe (lit. 'stone original 

iron;' the ancient name has been lost), 
osanwa'pa mo'komau, native copper knife. 
a'sen mo'koman, stone knife. 
asenme'p, stone-headed arrow. 
osauwa'pamep, copper-pointed arrow. 



INDIAN NOTES 




Mil. ETHXOGEOGRAPHY 
GEOGRAPHICAL BAND NAMES 

N ADDITION to the division of 
the tribe into gentes, the Meno- 
mini were formerly split up into 
a number of geographical groups, 
each taking its name from the locality in 
which it resided. As now remembered 
these were: 

Oka" to Wini'tinvnk, Pike Place people, dwelling 
at the mouth of the Oconto river. This 
was one of the ancient original groups of 
the tribe. 

Pa'sd'tiko Wini'niunik, Peshtigo River people, 
dwelling at the mouth of the river whose 
name they bear. The meaning of the name 
is lost, but it may mean a current eddying. 
An original ancient group. 

Minika'ni Wini'nhi'uk, Village people. This 
band had their village at the mouth of the 
^lenominee river, which was called the 
Minika'ni, or Milage river, on this account. 
It is looked upon as the oldest or parent 
group of the tribe, for here the animal 
ancestors of the ]SIenomini are supposed to 
have come out of the ground and turned 



379 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



380 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




themselves into men. ^Nlenomini born at 
the mouth of the river proudly boast of 
the fact. 

Male Sua'mdko Tusl'nini'^, Great Sand Bar 
people. This band lived on the sand dunes 
at what is now called Big Suamico, on 
Green bay. An original group. The 
locality is still prominent in mythology as 
the place where Ma"nabus performed the 
episode of the shut-eye dance. 

Sua'mdkosa Tusi'nini'', Little Sand Dune peo- 
ple. An offshoot of the Oka"to band, liv- 
ing on the sandhills of Little Suamico. 

Ndmd'o Wikito' Tusi'ni"', Sturgeon Bay people. 
Dwelt at Sturgeon Bay, and w^re likely 
an original group. 

Muhit'd'o Se'peo Wini'mivuk, Wolf River people. 
Lived on upper stretches of the stream. 
May have been a part of the Oka" to band, 
who lived on Green bay during the sum- 
mer, and hunted inland, dwelling in the 
warm, wooded river valley in winter. 

Kaka' pa[kato' Wim'nrd'ilk, Barricade Falls 
people. Lived at Keshena falls of Wolf 
river on the present reservation. Perhaps 
an offshoot of the preceding band. The 
Menomini claim that a few families always 
lived inland on the Wolf. 

Poivahe'knne r«5i'w/wm'/^^. Rice-gathering-place 
people. Dwelt on Lake Poygan. Prob- 
ably a more recent group which came into 
being subsequent to the dispersal of the 
tribe. 

Kake-ii'd'nikone Tusi'ninkimg, Portage people. 
Lived at Portage, Wis.; a more recent 
group, in all probability. 




INDIAN NOTES 



BAND NAMES 



Wi'skos Sc pco WinVniwilk, Wisconsin River 
people. Wi'skos, or Wi'sko'^s, means a little 
muskrat house, and from this the name 
Wisconsin is derived. This band and the 
next were hardy adventurers who strayed 
over to the ]Mississippi, and were in friendly 
touch with the Santee and other eastern 
Sioux. 

Kipisa"kia Wini'niwuk, River Mouth people. 
Resided at Prairie du Chien. 

Xoma'kokon Se'peo Tusi'niniivug, Beaver River 
people. Lived near Winneconne (Wini- 
ka'ni, a skull), Fond du Lac, and Oshkosh. 
Said to be an old, but not an original band. 

Mani'toicuk Tusi'niniu'iig, ]Manitou Place peo- 
ple. Resided at Manitowoc, Wis. An- 
other old, but not original band. 

Misi'^nimdk Kimiko Wini'niicilk, Michilimacki- 
nac people, residing near the old fort at 
]\Iackinac, Mich. This band was lured 
from home by trade. An old, but not orig- 
inal band. There was another settlement of 
jNIenomini at JNIilwaukee {Mdndicak Wini'- 
niwuk), and a specially notable one at Fort 
Floward, in the present city of Green Bay. 
A few stragglers doubtless camped on the 
site of what is now Chicago. 

Subsequent to the breaking up of the 
local groups of the Menomini, following the 
arrival and settlement of the whites in their 
old territory, there came into existence still 
another grouping, or perhaps rather a re- 
naming of the old bands, this time each tak- 



381 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



382 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




ing its designation from its chief. These 
bands are still remembered, but rather 
vaguely, especially as the titles of each must 
have changed with the demise of the leader. 
There were eleven remembered in Hoff- 
man's day, *as follows: 1, Osh'kosh, 2, 
Aia'miqta, 3, Sha'kUdk, now under charge 
of Ni'aqtawd'pomi, 4, Ma'nahii'shd, 5, Le 
Motie, 6, Phvd'qtinef, 7, Pesh'tiko (evidently 
one of the old local groups), 8, O'hopesha, 
9, Ke'sJwk, or Ke'so, 10, Aqkd'moi, now under 
charge of Ma'tskikine'if , 11, Shu'nii'iii'if, or 
Shu'nien. 

SOME MENOMINI PLACE NAMES IN 
WISCONSIN 

The following list of place-names was 
obtained from John V. Satterlee, ex-Cap- 
tain of IMenomini Indian Police, of Keshena, 
Wisconsin, and Honorary Member of the 
Wisconsin Archeological Society for the 
Menomini tribe, in June, 1919. The names 
are of places famous in Menomini history 
and tradition, and many sites are now cov- 
ered by thriving American towns and cities. 
Some of these names were published by the 




INDIAN NOTES 



PLACE NAMES 



383 



writer, but in a somewhat faulty manner, 
in The Wisconsin Archeologist, vol. 18, no. 
3, p, 97, August, 1919. 

Omd'^nomanco Ishko'ncgun, ]Menomini reser- 
vation. 

' Oka" to ('pike place'), Oconto. Both banks 
of the Oconto river from its mouth to the old 
dam were formerly used as a place of residence 
by the Menomini, despite their swampy char- 
acter. In later times most of the Indians lived 
in the city of Oconto where the lumber yards 
now are. ]Mr Satterlee lived here for three or 
four years prior to 1862, when he left for the 
present reserve. 

Wa'sa'kiu ('high sandy bank')- This was 
an ancient ]\Ienomini village place on the sand 
dunes where the old dam was located. It was 
used more or less continuously from pre- 
historic days until recent times. An old half- 
breed Menomini woman, jMrs ]Misha'kwut 
(Covered by Clouds), still resided there in 
June, 1919. ]Many stone and copper relics, 
including a copper celt, and a grooved axe found 
by the old Indian woman, have been obtained 
here. When visitedlast June in company with 
Mr J. P. Schumacher of Green Bay and Dr S. A. 
Barrett of the ^lilwaukee ^Museum, numerous 
stone arro\A'points, a notched stone maul, and 
a native copper fishhook were collected, also 
some decorated sherds from the rim of a large 
pottery vessel. Mr Schumacher reports a small 
copper bannerstone found here. Some rela- 
tively recent graves of Indian children were 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



384 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



reported to lie under a fine tree on a knoll near 
Mrs jMisha'kwut's house. 

Pa'^^kmano' ('branch of a river'). A village 
on a long narrow point where the Little river 
joins the Oconto. When visited by I\Ir Schu- 
macher, Dr Barrett, Mr Satterlee, and the 
writer, this spot showed every indication 'of 
having been occupied for ages. Much pottery, 
a fragment of an ornamented clay pipe, numer- 
ous arrow, spear, and knife points of flint and 
other stones, hammerstones, and the like were 
obtained. Numerous hearths, charcoal, and 
split bones were seen, and Mr Schumacher re- 
ports copper implements. Mr Satterlee, fol- 
lowing Indian traditions, located without diffi- 
culty a group of pits and wild rice caches dug 
into the edge of the bank on the east (?) side 
of the point. Mr Satterlee reports that among 
the last Indians to reside here were George 
McCall, John Wa'pus (Rabbit), native name 
Wa'nawat (Begs for Food), and the families of 
Charles Chickeney, native name Matcikine'u 
(Terrible Eagle), and of Kine'sa (Golden Eaglet). 

Pa'^ku'ukiii ('pointed hill'), native name of 
Stiles. There is a site, now nearly destroyed, in 
the railroad yard here. Menomini tradition 
states that a Miski Kinu'bik, or monster horned 
hairy snake, lived in a whirlpool in the river a 
quarter of a mile above Stiles. An Indian 
mother of the long ago once sacrificed her little 
daughter to this beast in order to get it to give 
her portions of its body to make an evil medi- 
cine for witchcraft. The place was ever after 
noted and abhorred by the Indians, who always 
passed it in silence, throwing in an offering to 
pacify the monster. 



INDIAN NOTES 



PLACE N A M E S 



385 



Ko^nin ('where the tornado passed'), a plain 
just below the Oconto falls. There is said to 
be an ancient ]Menomini village-site here. 

Xepeuspa^peniHo' ('where water falls'), the 
]\renomini name of Oconto falls. A Menomini 
village is said to have been located here. 

Ona'sin Apa'kato' ('rocky rapids'), a locality 
called Flat Rock by the whites. An old 
Menomini camp or village-site. 

Kdkdivd'nikone ('crossing the portage'), now 
Underbill. This was where the Menomini car- 
ried across to Lake Shawano. 

Mate Wasa'^kiu ('big high banks'), a local- 
ity on the Oconto now called Oconto Red Banks. 

Sor'nau'e'mno' Usnd'nind ('three rivers fork- 
ing'), now Suring. 

Apa'saklu ('brant [goose] land'), now called 
Pensaukee. There was an old Menomini vil- 
lage at the mouth of this creek. 

Siiamdko'sa ('little sand-bar'), Little Sua- 
mico. An ancient INIenomini camp ground. 

Mate Siia'mdkoox Sakaua'mdko {'gre^tsdind- 
har'), now Big Suamico. x\n ancient jNlenomini 
village-site of large extent is situated at the 
mouth of the river and along the lake shore. 
Copper and stone objects have been found here 
in abundance in former years by Messrs J. P. 
Schumacher and Neville of Green Bay, who 
accompanied the writer to the spot. A bell- 
mouthed celt and numerous points, scrapers, 
and sherds were obtained. Two Menomini men, 
named Adams, still live near by. The site is 
famous in Menomini folklore, mythology, and 
history. 

SesipukctaJie'kone ('ducks landing [from 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



386 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



flight]'), Duck creek, a place famous in Meno- 
mini folklore. 

Futci'wikit, or, now, Piiji'kU ('a bay in spite 
of itself,' or 'a ba}^ in spite of everything'), 
Green bay. Menomini villages were situated 
on the site of the present city of Green Bay on 
both sides of the Fox river, and at Fort Howard 
{Mind''^ka^ kiin, 'a fort'), where they camped 
under the fort wall on the site of the present 
Green Bay railroad station. 

Ke'^na'tdo ('cape'), the Door peninsula. 

Wa^ntV^ti'ii ('a bend'), Bay Settlement. 

Ndmd'o Wi'kitu ('sturgeon bay'). Sturgeon 
Bay. 

Wasa'^^kiil ('high sand-bank'). Death's Door. 

Apd'sitik Se'peu (meaning lost, possibly con- 
nected with Apd"sos, deer), Peshtigo river. 

Usakc'ioik ('at the mouth,' or 'the mouth'). 
The old jNIenomini village at the mouth of 
Peshtigo river. 

Apd'sitikgo, Peshtigo City. JMeaning of 
name lost. 

Wapa'pako ('white stone'), White Rapids. 

Musikaho'sa PagwiVtik ('little solid liquid's 
falls'). Named for an Indian who once dwelt 
there. 

Minika'ni Se'peu ('village, or town, river'), 
]\Ienominee river. The city of Menominee, 
^Michigan, is also called Minika'ni. This is the 
most noted spot in all IVIenomini history, for 
here the ancestor of the tribe first issued from 
the ground. Mr Satterlee was born on an 
island in the river between Menominee, INIichi- 
gan, and Marinette, Wisconsin. 

Kinitciii'uno ('long stretch'), a straight place 
in the ]\Ienominee river. 



I 



INDIAN NOTES 



PLACE NAMES 



387 



Uskotc Kikili ('silent place'), a locality in 
this river where dwells a monster who harms or 
drowns noisy persons. 

Nama'o Usnaka"se ('sturgeon barrier'), 
Sturgeon falls on the ^Menominee river. This 
was the northern inland boundary of the tribe, 
and here the traditional break-up of the nation 
into two groups (purely m3-thical) through a 
quarrel over the supply of sturgeon took place. 

Kipu'akimano, De Pere. The meaning of. 
the name is lost. 

Oka'^kane ('pike fishing place'), Kaukauna. 

Mind' si ('island'), ^lenasha. 

Waive'a^pita ('eddy or whirlpool'), Appleton. 

Md^kinuk Ustcepd'tce ('w^here stands the 
blood cedar tree'), a famous landmark on Fox 
river near the two preceding. 

Winibi'go Nipe'sa ('Winnebago lake'), Lake 
Winnebago. 

Wasiiske'\si}w ('new grave mound in a 
marsh'), Chilton. The parents of the present 
chief of the pagan ^Menomini, Indian Court 
Judge Sabatis Perrote, came from this place, 
where the ]\Ienomini had a later village. The 
name of the Judge's father was Peanot (Perrote) 
Amob. 

Keskd"kK'tltino ('lake bluff'), a rock ledge 
opposite Oskhosh City, perhaps at Chilton. A 
sacred spot in ]\Ienomini mythology, because 
here the Thunderbirds who became the ances- 
tors of that clan alighted and turned into men. 

Wanika'miu ('end of the lake'), Fond du 
Lac. 

Osko's Omani'kan ('Oshkosh, his city'), pres- 
ent city of Oshkosh. The name means either 
a "claw" or "brave," the connection possibly 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



388 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



being that in olden times the slayer of a grizzly 
bear wore its claws in the form of a necklace 
as a sign of bravery. 

Osko's On'e'^pishim ('Oshkosh, his lake'), 
Lake Oshkosh. 

Milce'kane ('stockade'), a lake between 
Winneconne and Oshkosh City. 

Winika'ni ('skull'), Winneconne. Named 
because of the large number of bleached human 
skulls and bones said by the Menomini to have 
been scattered about on the field of a battle, 
perhaps one of the battles between the Sauk 
and the French. 

Pdwahi'kane ('where wild rice is gathered'), 
Lake Poygan. The Menomini lived about this 
body of water in relatively recent times. 

Muhwd'o Se' pen ('wolf river'), the present 
Wolf river. 

Pind'o Wi'ko ('partridge crop'), the present 
Partridge lake. 

Akuand"nuk Se' pen ('stranded log river'), 
New London. 

Sake'mdo Wafend ('mosquito hill'), a locality 
a little above New London, on the Wolf. 

Wa''sa'''kiu ('high banks'), another locality 
with this common name. 

Mdno'na Kitciu (^ at the clay bank'), Brick- 
yard. 

Ma'no'mdne Sa'iak ('wild rice along the 
banks'), Shiocton, site of a recent Menomini 
settlement. 

Wa'kilconOmd'niMn ('Wakitcon, his town'). 
Chief Wakitcon's village was here. The Chief's 
name was really Wakajona'pe (Crooked Beak), 
the personal name of the Thunderbirds, pre- 
served in the Thunder clan of the Menomini. 



INDIAN NOTES 



PLACE NAMES 



389 



Ona'mun Usta't ('where vermilion exists, or 
is had'), a clay bank on Wolf river near Waki- 
tcon's town, resorted to for red paint. 

Kiitaha'kukane (' shooting-at-targets place'), 
a landmark at which the Indians always shot 
when passing. 

Andkd'^kika (' bark-house place'), a Meno- 
mini settlement just above the town of Wauke- 
chon. 

' 'Pone " Omd'nigan {' Pony's town ') . Named 
for a white settler and trader called "Pony 
Richmond." 

Settlements ox the Menomini Reservation 

Omd^nomdneo Ishko'negim, Menomini reser- 
vation. 

Oka'to'sa ('little pike place'). South Branch 
settlement. 

Keshi'niuv ('swift-flying'), Keshena Agency; 
named for a former chief. 

Koii'a'pomi Md'nigan ('Vanishing's town'). 
Named for some old Indian notable. The pagan 
settlement where Judge Perrote and Wi'sano- 
kut now live. 

Akine'hiii ('the standing land'), a settlement 
a few miles from Keshena. 

Ni'uopet ('four-seated,' or 'four in a den'). 
Xeopit, named for the old chief, son of Osh- 
kosh, recently deceased. 

Xihi'tukicune Mi'nikan (translation not 
given). The name is the same as that of the 
West Branch settlement on Wolf river. Zoar 
settlement of "pigan" Menomini. 

Xiga'nis Omd'nigan (Niganis, a Potawatomi 
personal name), a settlement near Phlox. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



390 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Perotc, a station on the railroad named for 
the late Indian Court Judge, Sabatis Perrote. 

Askenel ('one that is raw,' 'uncooked'), a 
locality named for a former Indian court judge. 

Ndku'ti Uskinawe'ndt ('Sunfish's [a personal 
name] berry-patch'), a locality between Kesh- 
ena a»d South Branch settlement, where the 
late Philip Naku'ti gathered berries. Also called 
Ndkii'ii Nu'ivisokun, with the same meaning. 
There is a large mound-group here. 

Pikwu'kunao Omd'nikim ('outdone in shoot- 
ing town ') . Named for an old Menomini chief. 
The "shooting" referred to here is that act (so 
called) as performed with otter-skin medicine- 
bags inside the medicine-lodge. Now Satterlee 
(named for J. V. Satterlee) on Oconto river, 
just off the reserve. 




INDIAN NOTES 



BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES 

1. Brixtox, D. G. Myths of the New World, 

chap, vi, p. 165, New York, 1868. 

2. Skixxer, Alaxsox. Notes on the Eastern 
• Cree and Northern Saulteaux, Anthropo- 
logical Papers of the American Museum of 
Natural History, vol. ix, part i, p. 100, 
New York, 1911. 

3. a. Schumacher, J. P., and Glaser, J. H. 

Indian Remains in Northeastern Wis- 
consin, Wisconsin Archeologist, vol. xi, 
no. 4, Madison, Wisconsin, April, 1913. 
b. Fox, G. R., and Youxger, H. O. ]Mari- 
nette County, ibid., vol. xvii, no. 2, June, 
1918. 

4. HoFFMAX, W. J. The ^Menomini Indians, 

Fourteenth Annual Report, Bureau of 
American Ethnology, part i, p. 268, Wash- 
ington, 1896. 

5. Catlix, Geo. Illustrations of the Manners, 

Customs and Condition of the North 
American Indians, vol. ii, p. 147, Lon- 
don, 1841. 

6. Skix-xer, Alaxsox. ]\Iedicine Ceremony 

of the ]Menomini Indians, etc. Indian 
Xotes and Monographs, vol. iv, p. 129, 
New York, 1920. 

7. Jexks, a. E. The Wild-rice Gatherers of 

the Upper Lakes, Nineteenth Annual Re- 
port, Bureau of American Ethnology, part 
ii, p. 1093, Washington, 1900. 



391 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



392 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



8. Marquette, Pere Jacques, and Joleet, 

Sieur. An Account of the Discovery of 
Some New Countries and Nations in 
North America in 1673. Historical Col- 
lections of Louisiana, part ii, p. 280. 
Philadelphia, 1850. 

9. Skinner, Alanson. Social Life and Cere- 

monial Bundles of the Menomini Indians 
Anthropological Papers of the American 
Mnsenm of Natural History, vol. xiii, part 
i, p. 131, New York, 1913. 

10. Skinner, Alanson. Notes on the Eastern 

Cree and Northern Saulteaux, ibid., vol. 
ix, part i, pp. 69-73, New York, 1911. 

11. Howe, Henry. Historical Collections of 
Ohio, e/c, p. 538, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1848. 

Skinnier, Alanson. Social Life and Cere- 
monial Bundles of the Menomini Indians, 
op. cit., pp. 35-41. 

Mason, O. T. Aboriginal American Bas- 
ketry. Annual Report of the U. S. Na- 
tional Museum for 1902, p. 385, Wash- 
ington, 1904. 

14. Hoffman, op. cit., pi. xxii. 

15. Hoffman, op. cit., p. 259. 

16. Hoffman, op. cit., pp. 270-272. 

17. Hoffman, op. cit., p. 259-260. 

18. Hoffman, op. cit., p. 280. 

19. Warren, W. W. History of the Ojibways, 

Based upon Traditions and Oral State- 
ments. Coll. Minn. Hist. Soc, vol. v, 
p. 98, St. Paul, Minn., 1885. 

20. Skinner, Alanson. Social Life and Cere- 

monial Bundles of the Menomini Indians, 
op. cit., p. 103, fig. 10. 



12. 



13. 



INDIAN NOTES 



NOTES 



393 



21. d. Skixner, Alanson. Associations and 

Ceremonies of the jSIenomini Indkns, 
ibid., vol. xiii, part ii, p. 173, New York, 
1915. 
b. Barrett, S. A. The Dream Dance of 
the Chippewa and IMenominee Indians of 
Northern Wisconsin. Bulletin of the Pub- 
lic Aluseum of the City of Milwaukee, vol. 
i, art. iv, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1911. 

22. West, G. A. Pipestone Quarries in Barron 

County, Wisconsin Archeologist, vol. ix, 
no. 2, April-July, 1910. 

23. Barrett, op. cit., p. 353. 

24. West, G. A. Aboriginal Pipes of Wis- 

consin, Wisconsin Archeologist, vol. iv, 
nos. 3, 4, Madison, Wisconsin, 1905. 

25. Hoffman, op. cit., pp. 265-266. 

26. Hoffman, op. cit., pp. 256-257. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



394 






INDEX 

Abenaki, conical lodge of, 85 
Abode of the dead, 38. See Hereafter 
Aboriginal American Basketry, excerpt from, 

231-234 
Acorns, eaten by bear, 189; mat for drying, 309 
Adams, Indian family living at Mate Sua'mako, 

372, 385 
Adultery, punishment for, 55, 82 
Adzes used to hollow wood, 222, 288 
Agriculture, 153-154, 156-157, 173, 358 
Alder, whistles of, 355-356 
Aleutian islands, wallets of, 233 
yl/gow^m«5, burden-straps of, 214; cup-and-pin 
game of, 368; dialect of, 142; house types of, 
85-87; Menomini a tribe of, 24, 360-361, 376; 
mystical character of , 25 ; name of Culture God 
among, 36-37; origin of metal-ware explained 
by, 285-286; paintings of, 340; textile arts of, 
230; warclubsof, 314; Central: arbors among, 
98-99; bear rites of, 177-178; concept of Hare 
trickster among, 37-38; demonology of, 31; 
designs, embroidered, 267 ; designs, floral, 273; 
designs, woven. 258 ; economic situation of , 153; 
games of, 58; leggings of, 115; mythology of, 
76-77; ornamental art of, 330-331; puppets 
of, 333; quivers of, 329; string bags of, 231; 
Thunderbird concept of, 262; Northern: bear 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



rites of, 177-178; deadfalls used among, 187- 
188; floral designs of, 273. See Pan-Algonkian 

Alphabet used in Menomini words, 21 

American Museum of Natural i/f^/or}', acknowl- 
edgment to, 19, 113, 123, 139, 234, 289, 290, 
292, 297, 299, 305, 307, 309, 318, 335, 338, 
343; collections of, 211, 216, 262, 364 

.4 mericans, eaten by Indians, 192 ; forces assisted 
by ]Menomini, 60 

A mmunition-hags, 329-330 

Amob, John, acknowledgment to, 20; arrows 
hafted by, 325; mat secured from, 242; war- 
club of, 3^5 

Amob, Peanot, father of Sabatis Perrote, 387 

Amulets, see Charms 

Ancestors, animals regarded as, 30-31, 46-47, 
200, 316, 379-380, 387; dance in honor of, 
74; determining moieties, 49; emergence of, 
386 

Animals, blessing given by, 53-54; bowls carved 
to represent, 336; carvings representing, 336- 
337, 368; claws of, as medicines, 66; cruelty 
to. punished, 45, 178; dance in honor of, 74; 
designs on pipes, 362; designs, woven.. 234. 
257, 259, 264; gifts of, to Ma"nabus, 65; meta- 
morphosis of, 39, 46-47, 199-200, 343, 379, 
387; metamorphosis of men into, 69-70; 
native terms for, 196, 198; skins, medicine- 
bags made of,- 39; statues of, 331; super- 
natural rulers of, 32, 177; superstitions con- 
cerning, 77, 173-182, 194; symbolic repre- 
sentations of, 80., 341. See Ancestors, Gentes, 
Totem 

Antenna design, 271-272 



395 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



396 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




^w//er, arrowpoints, 179, 322-323; carving of, 
337-338; comb-case, 138-139; combs, 123; 
glue from, 179; handles of awls, 305-306; 
objects, 376; paint-brush made of, 136; 
powder-charger, 329; quill-smoother, 275, 308- 
309; sculpture in, 331; spoons, 292, 309; 
spreader, 112-113 

Apa'^samih or Acorn, garters of, 259 

Apples as lure, 188 _ 

Appleton, Wis., native name for village-site at, 
387 

Applique-work, ribbon, 110, 124-125, 268-273, 
330; floral designs in, 279 

Arbors, fire sheltered by, 101; of boughs, 98-99 

Archeology, tribal, 370-378 

Arctic, conical lodge of, 86 

Arctomys monax, see Woodchuck 

Arm-hands, 130; quilled, 274 

Armlets, beaded, 256 

Armspreads, measurement by, 217 

Arrowpoints, 322-323; antler, 179; bone, 326; 
copper, 280, 312, 375. 378; iron, 325; stone, 
327, 375, 378, 383-385 

Arrow-release, 327-329 

Arrows, blunt, 327, 369; enchanted, 69-70, 
72; feathering of, 325; fish shot by, 204; for 
large game, 326; for warfare, 62; hafting of, 
323-325 ; materials used for, 322-323, 327 ; mis- 
directed by witchcraft, 70-71; native term for, 
330. See Bows 

Ash, bows made of, 320 

Ash-hark, storage boxes of, 162 

Ashes, baking in, 160, 194-195; forehead 
anointed with, 209-210; kettles scoured with, 
172; lye of, 161, 237; marking fireplaces, 101 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



397 



A'siku'onat, warclub of, 315 
Askenet, village named for, 390 
Astonishment, sign language for, 59 
Attendants at war-bundle sacrifice, 60 
Augwassag village, Mich., Ojibwa of, 232 
Aunts and uncles, title of mankind, 39, 164, 357 
Awl-case, worn by women, 127 
Awls, 304-306; bone, 219, 304-305, 378; copper, 

305, 375; for quillwork, 275; for sewing, 219, 

251 
Axe as charm, 312; axes, 318-319, 375, 378, 

383. See Celts 

Bahiche, netting of, 307, 309 

Bachelor buck as food, 194 

Backward speech of Heyoka, 71 

Bags, 309; for tobacco, 120, 365-367; for water- 
drum, 347; of the Ojibwa, 119; of toilet-sets 
136-138; woven, designs of, 259-266, 279 
woven string, 159, 231-238; woven yarn, 120 
213, 231-232, 313, 366. See Bandoleer-hags, 
Medicine-hags, Pouches, Storage-hags 

Bail of bass wood-bark, 283 

Baking of corn, 160-161 

Bald Eagle gens, 47 

Bald eagles, skin of, in war-bundle, 311; inhabit- 
ing empyrean, 30 

Baldrics, beadwork, 254 

Ball-headed warclubs, 314-317 

Balls, in war-bundle, 310; lacrosse, 367; of fire, 
witcljes transformed into, 69; shinny, 367; 
vessels molded over, 282-283 

Balsam, couch covered with boughs of, 91, 98 

Bandoleer-hags of woven beadwork, 119, 256; 
worn by witches, 70 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



398 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Bands, painted on water-drum, 346; woven, 
decoration of, 235, 243, 348 

Bands, tribal, 379-382 

Bangles, silver, 281 

Bannerstones, 375; copper, 383 

Bark, arbors of, 98-99; as substitute for tobacco, 
358-359; broom strengthened with, 301; 
cutting of, 90-91; dishes, 134, 160, 165-166, 
172, 260-261, 265, 295, 310; domestic uses of, 
205; fiber: string, 166, 201; storage-bags of, 
152; vat calked with, 168; lodges, 71, 85-87, 
93-100, 104-105, 107; mats, 205, 236, 247- 
248, 294; meat-drying scaffold of, 108; paint- 
ing on, 330; piece of, as door, 98; shelter of, 
158-159; storage-boxes of, 162. See Bass- 
wood-hark, Birch-hark, Cedar-hark, Elm-hark 

Barrett, S. /!., acknowledgment to, 19, 136, 238, 
370, 383-384; bone awl collected by, 304; 
buffalo-hide trunk collected by, 297; on 
Dreamers' dance, 349; on Menomini mounds, 
373; on prehistoric pipes, 364 

Barricade Falls people, a band group, 380 

Basketry, 293-296; awls used in, 304; geometric 
designs used in, 279 

Baskets, birch-bark, 294-295; corn-meal sifted 
through, 159; splint, 96, 293-294; sweet-grass, 
296 

Basswood, canoes, 222; vat, 168 

Bassit'ood-hark, cache lined with, 152; fiber, 
weaving in, 232, 234, 236; matting, 359; nets 
for snowshoes, 212; string, 89, 90, 94, 108, 
158, 190, 193, 227-228, 232, 245, 247, 249, 
265,283 

Bast, prisoner-tie of, 312-313; sashes woven of, 
238; string, weaving in, 232, 243. See Fihcr 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



399 



Bats, skins of, in war-bundles, 312 

Battle, fillets for, 111; on site of Winneconne, 
388. See War 

Bay Selllement, Wis., native name for village- 
site at, 386 

Beads, adorning wand, 122; copper, 375; decor- 
ating cradle, 215; in rattles, 351-352; shell, 
377 

Bcadwork, cosmetic bags, 136, 138; danglers, 
115; embroidery in, 116-117, 254-258, 266- 
267, 330; medallion on dance-bustle, 121; 
pipestems ornamented with, 363, 365; realistic 
designs in, 278; rosettes on fillets, 110; scarfs, 
119; warclub ornamented with, 314, 316; 
woven: 252-266, 338; bags, 330, 335; neck- 
laces, 126, 140; ornaments, 118-119, 348; 
pendants, 122; pouches, 120, 366-367 

Beaming-tool, scraping with, 226-227 

Beans, corn cooked with, 160; garden of, 98 

Bear, apology to, before killing, 177-178; 
assisted b}' eagle. 46; bladders used for storage, 
301; bones, as tools, 227, 229, 250-251, 292; 
ceremonies, 75-76; claws, arrowpoints of, 322; 
claws, necklace of, 128, 140,387-388; cooking 
of, 194; gall in tattooing outfit, 134f grease, 
wood rubbed with, 321; Great White Bear 
patron of, 30-31; hunting of, 187-190, 325; 
inhabiting lonely places, 32 ; patron of witches, 
70; witches transformed into, 69, See Great 
White Bear 

Bear-Eagle gens, 46^47 

Bear gentes,' 47; etiquette of, to bear, 75-76; 
grave-post of, 341; ofiices hereditary in, 51-52 

Bearing the feathered name, 316 

Bearskins, bedding of, 91; in witch's bundle, 70 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



400 


MENO MINI CULTURE 




Beating of rice-bed, 147 

Beaver, cooking of, 194; musk of, as lure, 188; 
native name for, 196; supernatural power of 
174; superstitions concerning, 179 

Beaver gens, 48 

Beaver River people, a band group, 381 

Bed, see Couch 

Bell-mouthed celt at Big Suamico, 385 

Bells, attached to dance-bustle, 121; decorating 
cradle, 215; hung on drum, 347-348; in tattoo- 
ing outfit, 134 

Belts, ceremonial, of Dream dance, 121-122; 
knife worn in, 127, 320; native name for, 140; 
of wampum, as reward, 62; of women, 126- 
127; of woven beadwork, 119-120, 254,256; 
of woven quill work, 275. See Sashes 

Benevolent poivers, conference of, 38-39; inhabit- 
ing empyrean, 29-30; names acquired from, 
53; sacrifices to, 33-35. See Gods 

Berries, edible, 162-163 

Big Jim Pd"monit, acknowledgment to, 20 

Big Sand gens, 47 

Big Suamico, Wis., native name for village- 
site at, 385; stone implements- found at, 280, 
319, 326; village-sites at, 370, 380 

Big Suamico river, village-sites on, 83, 371 

Bills, necklace of, 140 

Binder for hair, 122-123, 141 

Birch, bowls of, 287; spoons of, 289 

Birch-bark, baskets, 294; boxes, 147, 170, 274, 
294-296, 309; canoes, 208, 216-222; charcoal, 
as pigment, 134,222; corn-kernels dried on. 
160; dishes, 134, 160, 172, 260-261; drawings 
on, 340; effigies in witchcraft, 70; gourd 
wrapper, 353-354; kettles, 195-196; lodges 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



401 



covered with, 86, 90-91; masks, 75; sap- 
buckets, 168, 172; song records on, 312; 
stencils, 273; stripping of, 216-217; winnow- 
ing-trays, 148, 159 

Bird-like deities of empyrean, 29-30. See 
Thundcrhirds 

Birds, as representatives of Thunderers, 30; 
beaded figure of, 3 14; carved on quill-smoother, 
308; mounds, 264; native terms for, 197; 
necklaces of bills of, 140; rice brought to super- 
natural beings by, 143; woven designs of, 257 

Bird-skins in war-bundle, 311 

Bird-stones, carved slides resembling, 357 

Birth, customs of, 52-53 

Black, charcoal pigment for, 134,222; dye, 344; 
face painted with, 81, 132; games painted 
with, 367-368; mats, 248; skirts, 124; sym- 
bolism of, 268; warclubs painted with, 317; 
yarn, 232 

Black ash, bowls of , 287 

Black hear, 190; bladders of, used for storage, 
301; spoon made from scapula of, 292; toe- 
bones of, as tools, 227, 229 

Black Bear gens, 47 

Blackcloud, James, acknowledgment to, 20; tat- 
tooing outfit of, 134 

Black elm used in basketr>% 294 

Blackhau'k war, assistance of ]Menomini in, 60 

Black root, a plant, 135 

Bladders used for storage, 301 

Blanket, wife given away with, 55; blankets: 
bedding of, 91; covering fishing hut, 203; 
instead of buffalo robes, 120; native term for, 
141; ravelings from, 232; rice stored in, 147; 
serving as doors, 90, 98 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



402 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Blazing oftraiis, 58, 209 

Blessing, given through dream, 53-54; petitions 
for, 34 

Blood, washing of, from hands, 63-64 

Blood root, red dye from, 344 

Blue, broadcloth, breech-cloths of, 1 16; clay used 
in dyeing, 344; dice painted, 368; dye, 344; 
face painted, 132; paint in cosmetic bag, 137; 
skirts, 124; svmbolism of, 133, 269, 346, 348 

Blue corn, 157, 163 

Blunt arrows, 327, 369 

Boiling, of fish, 204; of meat, 195; water, immu- 
nity from, 71 

B one, arrowpoints, 322-323,326; awls, 219,304- 
306; carving in, 337-338; combs, 123; fish- 
hooks, 201 ; knives, 320; needles, 245-246, 307- 
308; objects on village-sites, 373, 376, 378; 
rubbing tool, 225; scraper, 160; sculpture in. 
331; spear-heads, 200; spoons, 292, 309; 
spreader, 113; tubes, 113, 351; bones: as 
molds, 171; as tools, 160, 179, 226, 227, 229, 
250-251; cooking of, 162, 193; for cup-and- 
pin game, 369; for dice game, 368; kept from 
dogs, 177; marking fireplaces, 101; split, on 
village-sites, 384 

Boughs, arhoY?, of, 98; couch covered with, 91, 
98; fishing hut of, 203; lodges of, 62-63, 107; 
long-house covered with, 100; placed under 
carcass, 193 

Bow-drill, fire made with, 301 

Bowl-and-dice game, 58, 368. See Dice 

Bowlder, kettle made from, 284-285; bowlders, 
fireplaces of, 101 

Bowls, carved, 336, 359-360; ceremonial at Buf- 
falo dance, 73-74; for dice game, 368; tortoise- 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


403 


shell, 288-289; wooden, 286-288,309, 359. 

See Dishes, Kettles 
Bows, and arrows, as charms, 312; hunting with, 

189; in warfare, 62; making of, 320-322; minia- 
ture, 369; native terms for, 330 
Bow-strings, 329 
Boxes, bark: 170, 274, 294-296, 309; corn cached 

in, 162; wooden: 299; roaches kept in, 113 
Boys, see Children 
Bracelets, silver, 128-130, 281 
Braided, corn, 158; prisoner-tie, 312-313; 

squashes, 153; warp, 234 
Braiding, of cattails, 245-246; of sashes, 238 
Brains, bows sized with, 321; used in tanning, 

225-229 
Brass, hawk-bells, 121; kettles, 285-286; pipe, 

364; tacks, 127, 213 
Breast-pieces, beaded, 256 
Breech-cloths, 116-117, 140; beaded, 273 
Brickyard, Wis., native name for village-site at, 

388 
Bridles, Tope, 213 
Brinton, D. G., on derivation of name of Culture 

god, 36-37 
British, account of cannibalism by, 192 
Broadcloth, applique on, 268; breech -cloths of. 

116-117; leggings of, 115-116; shawl of, 124 
Brooches, of silver, 280-281; worn by women. 

126, 141 
Broom of cedar, 301 
Brother, title of bear, 47 
Brown, dye for, 113 
Brown county, Wis., :Menomini village-sites in, 

370 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





404 



M EN O MINI CULTURE 



Buck, as food, 194; native name for, 196. See 
Deer 

Buckets, birch-bark, 168, 172. See Pails 

Buckskin, bows wrapped with, 320; drum-head 
345;* garments, 228-229, 255; thongs, 354: 
war-bundle wrapper. 311, 340. See Deerskin 

Buffalo, efligy mound, 373-374; hair, wallet 
woven of, 313; horns, worn at dance. 111; 
hunt, 52, 190; Menomini far removed from, 
120; native name for, 196; needle from boen 
of, 245; skinning of, 224; wool, use of, 120, 
232, 238, 251. 253, 265 " 

Buffalo dance, dream revelation of, 34; rites of, 
73-74,111,374 

Buffalo-hide, ammunition-bags of, 329; head- 
dresses of, 111; in war-bundle, 311; shields of, 
319; trunks of, 296-298, 309 

Buffalo-like horns of Panther, 263 

Building bee for long-house, 103 

Bima'i-gi'zik or Jim Paid'tckoivil on Bufifalo 
efhgy mound, 373-374 

Bundle of dead person's clothes, 79; bundles of 
witches, 70. See Sacred bundles, War- 
bundles 

Biingi, use of floral designs by, 277 

Burden-straps, 89, 213-214, 247 

Burls, bowls fashioned from, 287 

Burning, rags, as charm, 209-210; tobacco, 35, 
144; to hollow wood, 289-290 

Bustle, eagle-feather, of Dreamers, 41-42, 121- 
122 

Butterfly ceremonial at Oconto, 280 

Butternut-bark, black dye from, 344 

Butternut juice used as dye, 113 

Buttons of silver, 280-281 



INDIAN^NOTES 



INDEX 



405 



Caches, of copper objects at Oconto, 280; of 
corn, 101-102, 162; of wild rice, 150-152, 384. 
See Pits, Storage 

Cakes, corn, 160; corn-meal, 159; maple-sugar 
molded into, 170-171; roe^, 206 

Calfskin,- drum-heads of, 347-348 

Calico, given to corpse, 79; lacrosse fees paid in, 
56; men's shirts of, 114; women's waists of, 
124, 126 

Calking, of canoe, 221-222; of kettles, 166 

a?// for deer, 183-185 _ 

Calumet of southern Siouan tribes, 75 

Camps, Cree, 263; for canoe-making, 216; for 
harvesting wild rice, 143; for sugar-making, 
75, 165, 168-169; log, 107; on road of dead, 
44 

Canada, quadrangular bark-house in, 86-87 

Candy made of maple-sugar, 171 

Cannibal giants inhabiting earth, 31; cannibals, 
tales about, 77 

Can'iiihalism, 191-192; practised by witches, 70 

Canoes, bark, invention of, 199-200; birch-bark, 
208; cattails gathered into, 244; construction of , 
216-222; deer hunted from, 185; elm-bark, 
208, 216; fishing from, 200; log, 208, 216, 222- 
223, 288; miniature, as charms, 360; rice 
harv-ested in, 145-147, 151; storage in, 152 

Canvas, long-house covered with, 100 

Cap, see Head-dress 

Carrving-hoards, see Cradle-hoards 

Carving, 332-339; antler, 112-113, 123, 138-139, 
275, 292, 308-309, 331, 337-338; bone, 113, 
171, 308, 331, 367-369; deer's dew-claws, 140; 
floral designs in, 279; stone, 336, 360, 362, 
365; wood, 92, 97-98, 113, 123, 171, 203, 212- 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



406 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



213, 286-292, 299, 310, 312, 317, 338, 342- 
343, 347, 354, 356-357, 359-360, 363, 368 

Catfish, superstitions concerning, 180 

Catlin, George, on buffalo robes among Meno- 
mini, 120; paintings by, 319 

Catlinite, carved dish of, 336, 359-360; pipes of, 
360-363, 365 

Cat's-cradle game, 58 

Cattail mats, lodges covered with, 86, 89-90. 
107, 247, 309; making of, 244-246, 251, 307; 
storage of, 105 

Cedar, bow-drill of, 301; broom of, 301; canoe 
framework of, 218; canoe of, 222; floats of, 
201; flutes of, 356; spoons of, 289; trident of, 
200-201 

Cedar-hark, as tinder, 301-303; corn-kernels 
dried on, 160; couch covered with, 98; fiber 
bags woven from, 232, 236, 237, 309; lodges 
covered with, 86, 90-91, 95, 107; mat, roe 
spread under, "205; rope to carry fire, 303; 
scaffolds of, 153; slow-match of, 208; string, 
201, 249; strips: checkerwork of, 236; mats 
woven of, 242, 247-248 

Cedar-houghs, lodge of, 107 

Celestial Medicine Lodge, ]Ma''nabus initiated 
into, 38-41. See Mitd'win 

Celtic imagination, 77 

Celts, 202-203, 319, 375, 383, 385; set in war- 
club, 314. See Axe 

Central tribes, affiliation of Menomini mythology 
with, 76; customs among, 27-28; horse cul- 
ture among, 212; paintings of, 340; use of 
shields by, 319; weaving of, 242. See names 
of various tribes 

Ceremonies, witch-bundle, 341. See Rites 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



407 



Charcoal, birch-bark, pigment of, 134, 222; de- 
fective dishes marked with, 166; face black- 
ened with, 132; on village-sites, 384; stencils 
outlined with, 273 

Charms, against drowning, 360; chipped stone 
blades as, 127; controlled by Mita'win, 67; 
cup-and-pin game as, 369; evil, 341, 384; for 
hunting, 173-176; for love, 264, 334-335; given 
by Ma"nabus, 40; given in dreams, 33-34; 
in head-dress, 110; in war-bundles, 62, 64, 
311-313, 369; kept from women, 93; owl as, 
33^-Z3>(); puppets as, 2)d>2-2)^S; purchase of, 
68,^176; rattlesnake design as, 128; war- 
bundles as, 310-313 

Checkerwork weaving, 236, 242, 248, 293 

Chelydra serpentina, see Snapping tortoise 

Chevron design on pottery, 375 

Chicago, 111., village-sites at, 381 

Chicken etched on grave-post, 341 

Chickeney, Charles, resident on Little river, 384 

Chief, see Commander-in-Chief 

Chiefs, animal. 32, 177; band-groups named after, 
381-382; civil government hy, 51-52; facial 
painting of, 262-263; har\-est duties of, 143- 
144 

Children, cradles of, 214-215; drowning of, by 
witches, 71; game for, 57; graves of, 383-384; 
names given to, 49-51, 53; protection of, 
from ghosts, 52-53, 210; toys of, 215, 369. 
See Puberty 

Chilton, Wis., native name for village-site at, 387 

Chipmunk, superstition concerning, 179 

Chipped stone blades as charms, 127 

Chipping of flint, 323 

Christianity among Menomini, 24, 29, 42-43 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



408 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Circular ground-plan of lodge, 86 

Clam-shells, as tweezers, 130, 136; clay tem- 
pered with, 282; spoons of, 292-293, 309 

Clait's, arrows made of, 322; as medicines, 66; 

-necklaces of, 128, 140, 387-388 

Clay, dishes and spoons of, 285; dye boiled with, 
344; pottery sized with, 283; roast wrapped 
in, 194-195; tempering of, 282. See Pottery 

Clean place, bundles opened in, 174; skull hung 
in, 177 

Cleansing of soul, 45 

Climate, influence of, on culture, 153-154 . 

Closed twined weaving, 234-236 

Cloth, bag of, 347; decorative strips of, 121; 
foundation for beadwork, 255; leggings of, 
115-116; offered to Wa'bano, 332; tying- 
band of, 215; wrappings of, 333. See Broad- 
cloth 

Clothing, of corpse, 78-79; of statue, 332; sacri- 
ficed to supernatural powers, 34. See Dress 

Coil process, baskets made by, 296 

Collars, beadwork, 254 

Color, 91, 109-110, 113, 115-116, 121, 123-125. 
127, 132-134, 178, 222, 232-235, 240, 243, 
248, 252, 253, 257, 258, 266, 268, 274, 275. 
295, 311, 320, 327, 332, 333, 340, 343-344, 
347, 355, 363, 366-369 

Colors, appropriate to Sky-sisters, 30, 268-269; 
painting in, 340; symbolism of, 30, 132-133, 
268-269, 317, 346, 348. See Blue, Green, Red, 
Yellow 

Comb-case, 138-139, 338 

Combs of german silver, 123 

Commander-in-chief, duties of, 51-52 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


409 


Communal lodge, construction of, 99-100, 107. 
See Long-house 

Conical t^-pe of lodge, 85-86, 99 

Connecticut, semi-globular lodge in, 85 

Construction of lodges, 88-105, 107 

Contempt, sign language for, 59 

Conventionalized designs in embroidery, 267 

Cooking, of corn, 159-162; of fish, 204-206; of 
meats, 193-196; of rice, 149, 151-153, 157; of 
wild potatoes, 152-153 

Copper, arrowheads, 280, 312, 323, 326; awls, 
305; celts, 202-203, 319; fishhooks, 201; im- 
plements, 208, 280, 288, 373, 375, 378, 383-385; 
kettles, 285-286; knives, 320; spear-heads, 
200; tail of Great White Bear, 30-31; working 
of. 279-280 

Cord-'b.rapped stick, pottery impressed with, 283. 
375-376 

Corn, caches for, 101-102, 158; cooking of, 152- 
153, 159-162; crushing of, 304; cultivation of, 
156-157; curing of, 157-159; economic value 
of, 153-154; hulling of, 237; legend of, 154- 
156; native terms for, 157, 163; storage of, 
162,231 

Corncobs, fire of, 228 

Corn-field of So'man Jim, 98 

Cornhusks, lodges covered with, 86 

Cosmetics, bags for, 136-138 

Cosmogonic myth, 35-38, 76-77, 179 

Costume, see Dress 

Couch built into lodge, 91, 96, 98, 108 

Councils, names changed by, 53, 63; part of, in 
government, 51 

Coups, recital of, 63, 75, 80; symbols of, on grave- 
posts, 260, 341 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





410 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Courage, bear's-claw necklace proof of, 387-388; 
derived from cannibalism, 191-192. See 
Power 

Courting, flutes used in, 356-357 

Covering, blanket as, 203; for lodges, 85-86, 89- 
90, 95, 105, 107, 238, 242, 244-247; for long- 
house, 100 

Cow, needle from bone of, 245 

Cowrie-shells, necklaces of, 126, 140 

Coyote or Spider, concept of, among Plains tribes, 
37 

Cradle-boards, 52, 96, 214r-215 

Crane gens, 48 

Cree, concept of Trickster among, 37; data gath- 
ered among, 20; dialect of, 24; ice-chisels of, 
202; moccasins of, 117-118; storage receptacles 
of, 301; Eastern: cooking of, 194; semi-glob- 
ular lodges of, 86;Plains: Thunderbird design 
among, 263; use of floral designs by, 277-278 

Cries, of ghost, 43-44; of goblins, 210 

Crooked Lake reserve, Saskatchewan, 263 

Cross-stitching of applique-work, 268 

Crow belt of Plains tribes, 121 

Crow or Raven gens, 48 

Culture, prehistoric, 371-372; typical artifacts 
of, 372-378 

Ctdture god, myth of, 76-77. See Md"nabus 

Cup-and-pin game, 58, 368-369 

Cuts of venison, 193-194, 197-198 

Cutwork on rawhide pouches, 299-301 

Cycle of Trickster, 37, 77 

Cylinder used in rites of Je"sako, 72. See Tube 

Cylindrical, opening in Heavens, 29-30; storage 
cases, 205 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



411 



Dakota, Eastern or Santee, alliance of Menomini 
with, 60; data gathered among, 20; floral 
designs of, 277; Heyoka of, 71; ice-fishing 
among, 203; semi-globular lodges of, 86; 
weaving of, 234. See Siouan tribes 

Dance, at war-bundle ceremony, 60, 64; bags 
worn at, 255-256; bustle worn at, 41-42, 
121-122; Medicine, introduced bv Ma"nabus, 
39-40; of Buffalo cult, 73-74; of Dreamers, 
41-42; of hunting-bundle, 174; of victor)^ 63, 
74; on going to war, 61 ; shut-eye, of Ma''nabus, 
380; dances, list of, 74-75 

Dancing men, 41. See Dreamers 

Danglers of beadwork, 115. See Pendants, 
Streamers, Strips 

Darts for distance throwing, 369 

Da-wn, connection of Ma"nabus concept with, 
36-38; war attack commenced before, 62. 
See Great Dawn 

Dead, abode of, 38; feast of, 45-46, 79, 81; hut 
for, 99; impersonator of, 46, 81; INlita'win 
rites for, 75; mourning for, 81-82; Na'^patao 
lord of, 73; road of, 44-45. See GJiost, Spirits, 
Mortuary customs 

Deadfall for bear, 187 

Death, caused by: living skeleton, 31; watch- 
craft, 69-71; women during menses, 54, 93; 
inverted totem symbolic of, 80, 341; of 
]Ma"nabus, 39; of >s"a'''patao, 38, 45; penalty 
for adulter>% 55; resurrection from, 177; un- 
cleanness caused by, 145; songs at funeral, 
78. See Ghost, Spirits, Mortuary cw^ioms 

Deaths Door, Wis., native name for, 386 

Declaration of war, 60-61 

Decoration, sep Designs 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



412 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



Deer, bones, as tools, 160, 179, 226, 250-251; 
bones, cooked, 162; bones, ground, 368-369; 
brains, sizing with, 321; design, as love-charm, 
264; dew-claws and hoofs, 61, 140, 179, 311, 
325, 354-355; foot, sheath of, 128; hair, balls 
stuffed with, 367; hair, roach of, 109, 111-113, 
140; hair tufts, 320, 355; hunting of, 182-186, 
325; jaw, scraper of, 161; native names for, 
196; skinning of, 224-225; veneration for, 178- 
179; wolves masters of, 175-176, 178, See 
Venison, White Deer 

Deer gens, 48 

Deer-hoof, jinglers, 355; ornaments, 128, 140; 
rattles, 61, 311, 354 

Deer's-ear root, a plant, 135 

Deerskin, ammunition-bag, 330; bag for drum, 
347; bows wrapped with, 320; cosmetic bag, 
136; drum-head, 345; garments, 109, 113- 
115, 117, 124-126, 178, 228-229, 255; offered 
to sun, 75; quilled, 268, 274; sheaths, 128, 
320; shells for scraping, 378; tanning of, 226- 
229; thongs, 115,213-214, 226, 227, 251, 252, 
317, 329, 330, 354; war-bundle wrappers, 311, 
3 13, 340. See Buckskin, Doeskin 

Dehairing, of hides, 226, 229; tweezers for, 130- 
131, 136 

Deities, see Benevolent powers. Malevolent powers 

Delawares, burden-straps of, 214; hairless bear 
of, 190; leggings of, 115; puppets of, 333; semi- 
globular lodge among, 85; Thunderbird de- 
signs among, 262 

Dens, killing of bear in, 187, 189 

DePere, Wis., native name for village-site at, 387 

Designs, animal, 234, 257, 259, 264, 336-337, 359, 
362, 368; bands, 235, 243, 346, 348; birds, 257, 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



413 



264, 308. 314; chevron, 375; chicken, 341; 
conventionalized, 267; deer, 264; disc, 121; 
doublv-curved, 256-257, 273; eagle, 234; 
esoteric, 350-351; eye, 222, 266; fish, 338, 362; 
floral, 116, 124, 242-243, 256-258, 266, 268, 
271-273, 276-279, 337-338, 362, 366; friend- 
ship, 261, 265; fruit, 258; geometric, 234, 241, 
243, 257, 261, 267-269, 272, 276, 279; Great 
Underground Panther, 263-265; hands and 
heads, 348; heart, 272, 338; hexagon, 265-266, 
269; horse's head, 336, 356-357, 360; hour- 
glass, 259-260, 266; houses, 338; lacrosse 
racquets, 338; lattice, 363; loon, 347; lozenge, 
243, 248, 265, 269, 272; moth, 271-272; on 
potters-, 283; on reed mats, 91; plumed war- 
rior, 316; realistic, 128, 257, 259, 267, 337, 
368; scallops, 235; ships, 338; snakes, 264- 
265; spider-web, 265; staf, 258, 266; Thunder- 
bird, 133, 241, 258-259, 261-264, 314, 337, 
343, 354, 368; turtle, 139, 171, 264, 337, 341, 
368; warclubs, 338; woven, 120, 252-256, 330- 
331; zigzag, 261. See Effigy 

Destruction by charms, 333-334 

Detroit, siege of, 315 

Deiv-clau'S, as ornaments, 140; rattles of, 354; 
uses of, 179 

Diagonal twined weaving, 236 

Diagonal weaving, 126, 243, 255 

Diamond designs, see Lozenge designs 

Dice, bowls for throwing, 287; carved, 337; 
game, 58, 367-368 

Disc design on dance-bustle, 121; discs for dice 
game, 368 

Disease, see Sickness 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



414 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Dishes, bark, 134, 160, 165-166, 172, 260-261, 
265, 295, 310; earthenware, 285; sacrificial, 
359-360. See Bouis, Kettles 

Distance hurling, 58, 368-369 

Diviners of Je"sako cult, 33-34, 71-72 

Division of game, 181-182 

Divorce, adultery cause for, 55 

Doctor, Ma"nabus disguised as, 38; doctors of 
Je"sako cult, 3Z, 40 

Doe, as food, 194; hunting of, 183-185; native 
name for, 196 

Doeskin, ancient waist of, 125-126; leggings of, 
114^115, 229 

Dog, dance, 75; feast, on opening war-bundle, 
61; guarding passage to Hereafter, 45; dogs: 
bones kept from, 75-76, 177; ceremonial eating 
of, 179, 196; inhabiting lonely places, 32; 
sacrificed to supernatural powers, 34; used in 
hunting, 185, 191 

Dog gens, 48 

Dolls, 215; used in witchcraft, 70. See Puppets 

Dome-shaped lodge, see Semi-glohnlar lodge 

Door, mat serving as, 90, 98, 247 

Door peninsula, native name for, 386 

Doorposts or saplings of winter-lodge, 88-89, 
91 

Doiihly-cnrved designs, in applique, 273; in bead- 
work, 256-257 

Down, tufts of dyed, 111, 121, 366 

Drawing, see Etching 

Draw-sticks game, 58 

Dream dance, bustle of, 41-42, 121-122^ facial 
painting in, 132; wife given away at, 55. See 
Dreamers 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



415 



Dreamers, dance of, 74; metal-ware given to, 
285-286; society of: 41-42, 69, 96, 347; 
catlinite pipes of, 363; drum of, 347-349 

Dream-guardian, carved s}Tnbol of, 92; repre- 
sented on bag, 264; statues of, 331; Thunder- 
birds as, 259, 316 

Dreams, buffalo-portent in, 73, 374; bundles 
given in, 67-68, 174; charms indicated in, 176, 
360; communication bv, with supernatural, 
33-34, 259; designs de'rived from, 241-242, 
350; instructions as to arrows in, 323, 325; 
medicines given in, 66; names revealed in, 
5Z; of Ma"nabus, 73; of Thunderbirds, 73; 
puberty fast inducing, 53-54; right to war- 
arrows conferred by, 322; right to war-bun- 
dles conferred by, 60, 310; right to warclubs 
conferred by, 316; ritual of Dreamers given 
in, 41 

Dress, 109-130, 238; of women, 124-126, 267- 
273 

Dressing of game, 193 

Dried, corn, 160; fish, 204-205; meat, 102, 108, 
157, 193-194, 309; vegetables, 153, 162 

Drills, stone, 375, 377 

Drink, ceremonial serving of, 293 

Driving of deer, 182-183 

Droivning, charms against, 360; caused by witch- 
craft, 71; of noisy persons, 387 

Drums: 344-351; of Dreamers, 41-42, 347-349; 
of Je''sako cult, 349-351; of Keshena falls, 
199; of Wa'bano cult,98, 349-351; of Woman's 
dance, 349; worship of Thunderbirds through, 
73 

Drumsticks, of Dreamers' drum, 348; of shaman's 
drum, 351; of water-drum, 346-347 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



416 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Drying, oi cattails, 245; of ki'nikinik, 359; of 
pottery, 283; of reeds, 239-240, of rice, 150, 
151; of wi'kop, 250; platforms, 108 _ 
Dual, cycle of Trickster, 37-38, 77; division or 

moiety, 49, 65, 200, 387; soul, 43 
Duck creek, native name for, 386 
Dumplings, roe, 206 
Dutchman, Charlie, leggings of, 114 
Dutch wampum, necklaces of, 126-127 
Dyed, deer's hair roach, 109, 111-113; deerskin, 
125, 268; hawk-feathers, 110; porcupine-quills, 
127, 266; tufts, 121, 320, 355, 366 
Dyeing, of leather, 275; of reeds, 240 
Dyes, vegetal, 113, 248, 343-344. See Color, 
Colors. 

Eagle, bear assisted by, 46; design, 234; eagles 
inhabiting empyrean, 30 

Eagle-feather, dance-bustle, 41-42, 121-122; fans, 
98, 363; granted for kilhng foeman, 63; in 
roach, 113; eagle-feathers: adornment of, 275; 
boxes for holding, 299; statue adorned with, 
332 

Eagle-plumes adorning fillets, 110 

Eagle-skins, magic of, 312 

Earrings, 128, 135, 281 

Earth, belonging to Underneath gods, 286; 
created by sun, 35; herbs and roots, hairs of, 
38, 66; island-form of, 29; knowledge of, 
cleansed from soul, 45; recreation of, 36, 179; 
return of soul to, 45-46, 75, 81; sacrificial 
tobacco buried in, 35, 66, 144; supernatural 
denizens of, 31-32; wild rice springing from, 
143 

Earthenware, see Pottery 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



417 



East, four sisters of, 268 

East, or Wa'pan, connection of ]Ma"nabus con- 
cept with, 36-38 

Eastern Woodland culture, characteristics of, 277- 
278. See Forest tribes 

Effigv, dishes and spoons, 336; handles of wooden 
"'spoons, 289, 292; mounds, 264, 373-374; 
effigies, human: 341-343; used in witchcraft, 
70 

£i'.? used to clear maple syrup, 170; eggs of 
Thunderbirds, 317 

E!f causing sleep, 32 

Elk, design, 264; flint boiled in grease of, 323; 
native name for, 196; skinning of, 224 

Elk gens, 48 

Ellis Junction, Wis., effigy mound near, 373-374 

Elm, baskets made of, 294; bows made of, 321 

Elm-bark, cache lined 'with, 152; canoes, 208, 
216; lodges covered with, 86, 91, 95, 107; roe 
dried on, 205; smoke-hole covered with, 90; 
storage boxes of, 162; string of, 249. See 
Slippery-elm bark 

Embroidery, beadwork: 110, 116-117, 254-255, 
266-267, 330; decorative designs of, 256-258; 
floral designs in, 279; native terms for, 140; 
on mats, 243; quillwork, 122, 125, 266-268, 
274-276, 299-301, 320, 330; solid, 119; sym- 
bolism lacking in, 268; utensils used in, 275, 
301, 308-309 

Empyrean, abode of benevolent powers, 29-30.' 
See Land of spirits 

Enemies, charms against, 67, 333-334; hearts of, 
eaten, 191-192; represented on grave-post, 
341; souls of, as servants, 44, 80 

Epaulets, beaded, 114 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



418 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Esoteric designs, 350-351 

Etching, 340-343; on pottery, 262; on silver, 

128; on wood, 359 
Eternity, red and black signifying, 317. 346 
Ethnohotony, tribal, 28 
Ethnogeography, tribal, 379-390 _ 
Europe, influence of, on Menomini, 78; ]\Ieno- 

mini soldiers carried to, 27; origin of horse in, 

211. See Whites 
Evildoers, exclusion of, from Spirit-land, 45 
Evil, charms, 67, 335-336, 341, 384; dreams, 

significance of, 54 
Evil poivers, see Malevolent powers 
Expiation of sin, 31-32. See Punishment 
Eye, design on bags, 266; eyes: adorning canoe, 

222; as hunting trophies, 190; death-deahng, 31 

Face, blackened in mourning, 81; of corpse 
painted,_ 78; painting of , 132-133, 262-263 

Fall, hunting in, 189; sacrifice to war-bundles 
in, 60; skins prime in, 229 

False-face or mask, 210-211 

Falsework for canoe, 219-220 

Family, canoe built by, 216; customs of , 52-56; 
duties of: in mourning, 80; in victory dance, 
63-64; to partizan, 61; game etiquette of, 
181; gods of, ?>Z?>; lodge built by, 103. See 
Relatives 

Fans^ of eagle-feathers, 98, 363 

Fasting, dream revelations induced by, 34, 53- 
54, 259; magical power obtained through, 69; 
supernatural gifts secured by, 174 

Fastnesses inhabited by pygmies, 32 

Fat as food, 194 

Father-in-law, rights of, 181 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



Fawnskin, wrapper of, 229 

Feas!, at Bear ceremony, 75; at rice harvest. 
144, 148, 149; at war-bundle ceremony, 60, 
64; of dead, 45-46, 79, 81; of first game, 180- 
181; on opening war-bundle, 61; to war- 
bundles, 313; feasts: bowls for, 286; dishes of 
corn for, 160; food for, 179-180; ladles for, 
286, 289; maple-sugar used at, 171-172; to 
Wa'bano, 331 

Feasting in Spirit-land, 45 

Feathered, arrows, 325-326; name, 316 

Feathers, adorning fillets, 110-111; as charms, 
312; dance-bustle adorned with, 121; sacred 
pole adorned with, 92-93. See Eagle-feather, 
Plumes 

Feet as hunting trophies, 190 

Fetishes given in dreams, 34. See Charms 

Fetus-skin, war-bundle wrapper of, 340 

Fiber, bags, 152, 231-237, 251, 309; bark, 152, 
168, 222, 227, 232, 234, 236, 237, 245; nettle, 
232, 251; string, 201, 231-232; used in calk- 
ing, 168, 222. See Bast, Wi'kop 

Fillets of fur, 109-111, 140. See Head-dress 

Fire, balls of, witches transformed into, 69; 
immunity from, 71; making of, 101, 301-303; 
tobacco burned :n, 35, 144; fires on road of 
dead, 44. See Prairie fires 

Fire-drills, 301 

Fire-hardened arrows, 327 

Fireplace, in center of lodge, 89, 90, 92, 98, 100; 
in general, 100-103, 384 

Firewood, cut with stone axes, 318; determining 
location of villages, 106 

Firing of pottery, 284 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



419 



420 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Firstborn, Mudje'kiwis colloquial term for. 
49-50 

First game, dance of, 74 

Fish, abundance of, 153, 371; cooking of, 204- 
206; design, 338, 362; native terms for, 207; 
smoking of, 102 

Fisheries, tribal, 84 

Fishhooks, 201; copper, 280, 375, 383 _ 

Fishing, charms for, 67, 333; economic import- 
ance of, 173, 198, 371; methods of, 198-204 

Fishing-tackle, 200-204, 208 

Fish, Jim, acknowledgment to, 20 

Fish, Peter, acknowledgment to, 20; on prehis- 
toric kettles, 284-285 

Five Nations, long-house of, 87. See Iroquois 

Flag, surmounting sacred pole, 92 

Flageolets, see Flutes 

Flailing of wild rice, 150 

Flaps, beaded, 348; on dance-bustle, 121; on 
leggings, 114; on moccasins, 117, 136 

Flat Rock, Wis., native name for village-site at. 
385 

Flint, and steel, pipes lighted with, 303; arrow- 
points, 322, 323, 327; implements, 288; 
knives, 320, 377, 384; flints, bodies lacerated 
with, 81-82 

Floats for fishing, 201-204 

Flood, recreation of earth after, 36, 179 

Floral designs, appliqued, 124, 268, 271-273; 
beaded, 116, 256-258, 366; carved, 337-338; 
distribution of, 276-279; on bags, 266; on 
mat, 242-243; on pipes, 362 

Flower-pot design, 278 

Fluted stone axes, 375 

Flutes, 356-357 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



Flying heads and skulls, S2 
Folk-lore, see Myths 

Folles-Avoines of Nation of Wild Oats, 151 
PollojiYs of Ma' nabus, 40. See Mita'ivin 
Fonddu Lac, Wis., 218; native name for, m- 
village-sites near, 381 ' 

Food animal 173-207; conventional represen- 

60 Tff'^'.^f l^^'.P'^^ t« bundle-owners, 
60, offered to bundle of clothes, 79; offered 

t.ff' ^'^?' ^^^' f^^^fi^^d to siipernat- 
ural powers, 34; vegetal, 142-173 

toot, deer's, as knife-sheath, 128 

Foot-racing game, 58 

Forehead, annointed with ashes, 209-210- bur- 
den-straps crossing, 213 

Fore^/, haunted by living skeleton, 31; trails 

?n^-''X°^' ^i' 2^^' t"bal habitats in, 84' 
11)0-106; war-bundle opened in, 61 
Forest tribes, carved spoons of, 290-292- cat 
limte among, 360-361; cultivation of to- 
bacco by, 35^; data gathered among, 20- 
decorative designs of, 256; embroidety of,' 
20/; floral designs distinctive of, 276-279- 
house t3pes of, 85; irregular villages of, 105- 
106; meal-making of, 159; moccasins of, 211- 
portable cradles of, 214; pipes of, 364 tex- 
tile arts of, 230-231; tobacco pouches of 365- 
wild rice culture of, 142; wooden bowls com- 
mon to, 286 

PormulcE, contained in hunting-bundles 173 

1 /o; gifts of Ma"nabus, 40, 66 
Fort Hou^ard Wis., village-sites at, 381, 386- 

white settlers at, 274 ' 

Fort Meigs, Ohio, capture of, 192 
Fossils as medicines, 66 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



421 



422 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Foul weather caused by waste, 147, 167. See 

Weather 
Four, bunches of shavings, 80; coups recounted, 

80; days and nights to Otherworld, 44; days, 

Je"sako cylinder used during, 72; days, 

prayer for, in harvest, 144-145; days, soul 

cleansed at expiration of, 45; days, tattooing 

pigment worn, 135; degrees of Mita'win, 64; 

Sky-sisters, 268; tiers of empyrean, 29; 

winds, creative agency of, 35 \ witches, 70 
Fox, see Sauk and Fox 
Foxes, witches transformed into, 69 
Fox gens, 48 

Fox, G. R., on early Menomini sites, 83 
Fox river, native name for landmark on, 387; 

village-sites on, 83, 386 
Fox squirrels, skins of, 137 
Frame for weaving: bags, 231; beadwork, 252, 

257-258, 310; mats, 240-241 
Frameivork, for canoe, 218; of long-house, 100; 

of summer-house, 93-94 
Free and Accepted Masons, society of, 39-40 
French, accounts by, of Menomini, 28-29; among 

Menomini, 83; battle of, with Sauk, 388 
Friendship, attracted by charms, 67; design, 261, 

265 
Fringe on leggings, 114^115; fringes: of woven 

quillwork, 275; on garters, 119; on moccasins, 

117; on tobacco pouches, 365 
Frogs, mating songs of, 199 
Fruit designs, 258; fruits, edible, 162-163 
Funeral customs, see Mortuary customs 
Funeral rites of Mita'win, 75, 96-97. See 

Memorial ceremony 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


423 


Fur, ancient robe of, 126; deer's, 178; fillets, 
109-111, 140; streamers, 110, 136; strips, 348, 
356, 363, 365. See Pelts, Skins 

Future foretold in dreams, 53-54. See 
Prophets 

Galloping, sign language for, 59 

Game, abundance of, 153; arrows for, 327; 

division of, 181-182; feast of, 180-181; 

iMa"nabus master of, 40; superstitions about, 

173-182, 194. See Hunting 
Games, paraphernalia for, 367-369; tribal, 

56-58 
Garters, of women, 125; of woven beadwork, 

119, 252-256; Thunderbird, 258-259 
Garter-snakes, superstitions concerning, 179 
Genies, tribal, 46-51, 388; segregation of, in 

villages, 106. See Totem 
Gentile names, 49-51; awarding of, 53, 63, 388 
Geometric designs, 234, 241, 243, 257, 261,267- 

269, 272, 276, 279 
German silver, bracelets of, 128; combs of, 123; 

ornaments of, 280-281; roach spreader of, 113 
Germany,, effect of war with, on Menomini, 27 
Ghost or soul, 43-44; confusion of, at funeral, 

79-80; grave-shed erected for, 80-81, 99, 261; 

ghosts: precautions against, 209-210; stories 

oiF, 78. See Soul, Spirits 
Giants inhabiting earth, 31 
Gifts, attracted by charms, 67, 333; made to 

]Ma"nabus, 65; medicines regarded as, 66; 

obligatory at lacrosse, 56; of magic, 173-175; 

of \\ild rice, 143; sign language for, 59, 181; 

to corpse, 79 
Gill-nets, 201-202, 208 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





424 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Girls, puberty of, 54; revelation of Dreamers to, 
41; toys of, 215. See Children 

Glue, 356; made of deer, 179, 325; made of 
sturgeon, 322; used in making bows and ar- 
rows, 320, 323, 325-326 

Glue-stick, 326 

Goblins, travelers frightened by, 210-211 

Gods, good, sacrifices to, 33; honored by games, 
56; of war: paintings of, 311; Thunderbirds 
as, 30, 314; Wa'bano as, 97-98. See Benevo- 
lent powers, Malevolent powers, Thunderbirds, 
Wa'bano 

Golden Eagle gens, 48 

Golden eagles inhabiting empyrean, 30 

Good-luck charms. 67, 335. See Ill-luck 

Gorgets, stone, 375 

Gouge for piercing maple trees, 167 

Gourd rattles, 311, 352-354; at funerals, 78; of 
So'man Jim, 98. See Rattles 

Government, tribal, 51-52; U. S., IMenomini 
drafted by, 27 

Gm^e^ of sugar, 171-172 

Grandfather, title of rice, 144 

Grandmother, title of earth, 35, 38, 66 

Grass, burned in parching rice, 150; dolls of, in 
witchcraft, 70; lodge, 86, 107; spread be- 
neath carcass, 193, 224 

Grasshoppers, tobacco-myth of, 357-358 

Grave, ceremonies at, 80-81; mortuary offerings 
in, 44, 80; graves: of children,' 383-384; 
robbed of bodies by witches, 70; tortoise-shell 
bowls in, 288 

Grave-posts, decoration of, 80, 260, 340-341 

Grave-sheds, 80-81, 99, 261 

Graveyard, ghost lingering in, 43-44 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



Gray fur of deer, 178 

Grease, bladders for storing, 301; flint boiled 
in, 323; green wood rubbed with, 321; sea- 
soning with, 151, 160 

Great Ancestral Bear gens, 47 

Great Dawn, derived title of Ma"nabus, 38. 
See Md"nahus 

Great Hare or Mate Wa'pus, 35-36, 77. See 
Md"nahus 

Great Horned Snake, see Horned hairy snakes 

Great Mythical Bear, see Great White Bear 

Great Sand Bar people, a band name, 380 

Great Spirit or Mate Haivd'tuk, as creator, 35; 
birds messengers of, 30; power of Ma"nabus 
derived from, 36; sun-concept of, 29; wor- 
shiped through drum, 41 

Great Underground Bear, see Great White Bear 

Great Underground P anther, 3\; dream of, 241- 
242; on medicine-bags, 263-265 

Great White Bear, ancestor of ]Menomini, 46; 
Bear gens descended from, 51; inhabiting 
lowest tier of Underworld, 30-31; inventions 
of, 199-200 

Green, dice painted, 368; dye, 344; symbolism 
of, 346, 348. See Blue 

Green Bay, copper implements of, 280; native 
name for, 386; quillwork of, 274; Sauk and 
Fox driven from, 59-60; shells of, 376; stone 
implements of, 319; village-sites on, 83-84; 
105-106, 198, 362, 370, 372, 380 

Green Bay, Wis., 280, 293, 383, 385; collections 
in, 274, 370; village-sites at, 386 

Grills, built over fireplace, 102. See Scaffolds 

Grizzly bear, 190; necklace made of claws of, 
387-388 



425 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



426 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Grooved, axes, 312, 318-319, 375, 383; mauls, 280 

Ground-plan, of lodges, variations in, 86-87; of 
long-house, 100 

Gruels made of corn-meal, 159 

Guardian, see Dream guardian 

Guests, place of honor for, 92, 108 

Gulf, culture, semi-globular lodges of, 85; re- 
gion, esthetic designs of, 276-277 

Gun-butt warclubs, 314 

Halting of arrows, 323-325 

Hair, in mourning, 81-82; mode of wearing, 

122-123, 130-132, 141, 335; noose of, 191; of 

deer, uses of, 109, 111-113, 178-179, 320, 

355, 367; hairs of Earth grandmother, 3.8, 66. 

See Horsehair 
Hair-brushes, porcupine tails as, 139 
Hairless bear or kinu'a, servant of Great White 

Bear, 31,190 
Half-moons, carved, 368 
Hammerstones, 384 

Handbook of American Indians, cited, 142, 327 
Handles, carved, of sp6ons, 289-290; effigy, 336; 

inlaid, of warclub, 316; of awls, 305-306. 

See Bail 
Hands, design on drum, 348; washing of blood 

from, 63-64 
Hangings, mats as, 238, 242 
Happiness, red symbolizing, 132-133, 346 
Harpoons for fishing, 200 
Harrington, M. R., acknowledgment to, 242; 

garters collected by, 259; on false-face, 211; 

on green dye, 344 
Harvest, dance of , 74 
Harvesting of wild rice, 52, 143-151 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



427 



Hato'ii'i or ato'ici, game of, 57-58. 

Hawk-bells, in tattooing outfit, 134; on dance- 
bustle, 121 

Haivk-feathers,^ adorning fillets, 110; arrows 
feathered with, 325 

Hawks inhabiting empyrean, 30 

Hawk-skins, magic of, 312 

Headache, tattooing for, 133 

Head-bands, see Fillets 

Head-dress, of buffalo at Buffalo dance, 73; of 
men, 109-113, 238; of women, 122-123. See 
Fillets, Roach 

Heads: carved on spoon handles, 289; design on 
drum, 3-48; flying, 32; ghosts resident in, 43; 
horses'; car\-ed, 336, 356-357, 360; loon's, 
carved, 347; of drums, 345-348; Thunder- 
birds, carved, 354 

Health, charms guarding, 333. See Sickness 

Hearth-board, 301 

Heart, design, appliqued, 272; design, carved, 
338; human, eating of, 70, 191-192; human, 
powder from, 334-335; moose's, roasted, 194 

Heavens, see Empyrean, Land of spirits 

Heddles, beadwork woven on, 257-258; car\'ed, 
338; native name for, 310 

Hematite, red dye from, 344 

Hemlock, bows made of, 321 

Hemlock-bark, lodge of, 107; red dye from, 344 

Hemp, Indian, 232. See Nettles 

Herbs, as medicines, 38, 65, 66, 312; buffalo's 
knowledge of, 74; flint boiled with, 323; in 
tattooing outfit, 134-135; in war-bundle, 311- 
312; skins treated with, 225 

Hereafter, belief in, 43-46, 81; dramatization of 
belief in, 64-65 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



428 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Heroes, tales of, 77 

Hewitt, J. N. B., on derivation of ]\Ienomini, 
142 

Hexagon designs in textiles, 265-266, 269 

Heyoka of Dakota, 71 

Hickory, bows made of, 320-321 

High Baulks, Wis., fishhook found at, 201; 
native name for, 383, 388; village-site at, 
370, 372 

Hills, corn planted in, 156-157; lodges located 
on, 106; supernatural denizens of, 32 

Hillside, caches situiteJ ia, 150-152 

History of the Ojebway Ifidians, Peter Jones, 
author, 211 

History of the Ojihways, W. W. Warren, author, 
326 

Hobgoblins inhabiting earth, 31 

Hoes, aboriginal, 157 

Hoffman, W. J., folk-lore collected b}', 76; on 
arbors, 99; on band-names, 382; on bark 
mats, 248; on basketry, 294; on beadwork, 
252-256; on bows, 320; on bow-strings, 329; 
on moccasins, 118; on poisoned arrow- 
points, 327; on prehistoric artifacts, 376-378; 
on twilled weaving, 236 

Hog, Mrs Kopai'as Weke, acknowledgment to, 
20; love charm of, 334-335 

Hog, Thomas, death of, 334 

Hogs inhabiting lonely places, 32 

Hole, corn baked in, 160; rice cached in, 152; 
rice threshed in, 148, 151. See Pits 

Holy sky color, or blue, 133. See Blue 

Hominy or coarse corn-meal, 159 

Honey as lure, 188 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



429 



Honor, place of, in lodge, 92, 108; honors of 
war. 62-63 

Hoofs of deer, as ornaments, 128, 140, 355; 
glue of, 179, 325) rattles of, 61, 311, 354 

Hooks, articles suspended on, 91-92; on spoon 
handles, 290-292 

Hoop, of water-drum, 345; scalp stretched on, 62 

Hoot oui, see Oivl 

Horizontal twined weaving, 235 

Horn for calling deer, 185 

Horned hairy snakes, 31-32; cattail sign of, 244; 
design on sorcerer's bag, 265; sacrifice to, 
384; scales of, as charm, 335; witch medicine 
from, 70. See Snakes 

Horned oid, skin of, in witch's bundle, 70 

Horns, buffalo, head-dress with, 111; of Un- 
derground Panther, 263 

Horse, carved head of, 336, 356-357, 360; im- 
portance of, 211; inhabiting lonely places, 32; 
trappings for, 212-213 

Horsehair, bead necklaces woven on, 126; strips 
adorned with, 275 

Hourglass design, 259-260, 266 

Household vocabular}% 309-310 

House-mats, see Cattail mats 

House types of INlenomini, 84-88; houses, carved 
design, 338. See Lodges 

Hudson hav, semi-globular lodge on, 86; tribes 
of, 118 

Hudson river, ]\lahican chief from, 262 

Hidled corn, 153, 237 

Hulling of rice, 150 

Hulling-bags for corn, 161-162, 231, 232, 237- 
238, 309 

Hunters, corn preparation for, 158 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



430 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Hunting, arrows for, 322-323, 325-326; charms 
for good-luck in, 67, 3?)Z, 369; of bear, 187 
190; of deer, 182-186; of small game, 190-191; 
paraphernalia for, 329-330; supernatural con 
trol of, 67, 70-71, 173-177 

Hunting-bundles, 173-176, 183, 355; given by 
Ma"nabus, 40; given in dreams, 34; wolf-skin 
fillets in. 111 

Husband, status of, 54-56 

Husking of corn, 158-159 

Ice-chisel, 202-203 
Ice-games, 58, 368 
Ill-luck caused by: waste, 178; witchcraft, 70. 

See Good-luck 
Immortality, belief in, 38-39, 44, 64-65, 81; 

given by Ma'nabus, 40 
Impersonator of dead, 46, 81 
Implements, prehistoric, 280, 375-378. See 

Tools 
Impressed designs on pottery, 283, 375-376 
Incantations., 341; for hunting, 173. See 

Formulce. 
Incense in hunting-bundle, 174-175 
Incised, carving on antler, 139; designs: on 

bone, 308; on pottery, 283, 375; on terracotta 

pipe, 362. See Etching 
Indian hemp or nettle-fiber, 232 
Influenza, Pagan party decimated by, 27 
Inheritance of dreams, 68 
Initiation, into Dreamers, 42; into Mita'win, 

40, 46, 64, 81, 293; into Peyote religion, 43 
Inlays, beaded, 316; on pipes, 362, 365 
In league with thunder, 263, 316 
Insanity caused by charms, 67 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


431 


Intellect regarded as soul, 43 

Inversion of totem symbolic of death, 80, 341 

Invisibility secured by charms, 62, 312 

loii'a, data gathered among, 20; war-bundles 
among, 313; weaving of, 234 

Iron, arrowpoints, 325; gouge, 167; kettles, 
285-286; pipe-tomahawks, 364; spears, 201; 
wash-tub for drum, 347 

Iroquois, burden-straps of, 214; culture of New 
York, 376; embroidery of, 267: false-face of, 
210-211; house types of, 85-87; practical char- 
acter of, 25; silver brooches of, 281; 
sites, jinglers on, 355; treatment of flint by, 
323; wooden bowls of, 288 

Islafid, earth believed to be, 29; :Ma"nabus 
taken to, 176 

Itaglios of panther, 264 

JackligJit, deer hunted with, 185, 201; fishing 

by, 201; native name for, 208 
Jackson, Matilda, acknowledgment to, 20 
Jams of fruit, 162 
Jars, decorated earthenware, 375; of Pan-Al- 

gonkian t\'pe, 284-285. See Pottery 
Jasper drills, 377 
Jaw, deer's, scraper of, 161 
Jenks, A. E., on transplanting wild rice, 143 
Je''sako cult, diviners of, 33-34; drum of , 349- 

351; ]SIa''nabus patron of, 40; paraphernalia 

of, purchased, 97; rites of, 71-72 
Jesuit on clam-shells as spoons, 293; Jesuits, 

accounts by, of Menomini, 28-29 
Jinglers, 140, 355 

Joking relationship, a formal etiquette, 55-56, 59 
Jonah concept, 200 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





432 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Jones, Peter, author of History of the Ojebway 

Indians, 211 
Jones, William, bone implement found by, 305; 

buffalo-hide trunk collected by, 297 
Jourdain, J., pipe-tomahawks of, 364 
Journey, perils of, 209-211; to the Land of 

Spirits, 38, 44, 53, 72, 80 
Jugglers, see Prophets 

Kd'kdk, Jane, acknowledgment to, 20 

Kd'kwatc, Louis, acknowledgment to, 20 

Kansa, data gathered among, 20; war-bundles 
among, 313 

Kaukauna, Wis., native name for ^•illage-site 
at, 387 

Kaw, war-bundles among, 313 

Kellogg Public Library, acknowledgment to, 
370; quillwork in, 274 

Keshena, Wis., 204, 216; statue near, 332; 
village near, 389 

Keshena Agency, Wis., native name for, 389 

Keshena falls, Wis., sturgeon at, 199; village- 
site at,' 380 

Keshena, John, acknowledgment to, 20 

Ke'soa'pomesdo; acknowledgment to, 20; leg- 
gings of, 114 

Kettles, birch-bark, 195-196; earthen, 195, 286, 
309; for sugar-making, 169; metal, 285-286; 
mode of suspending, 92, 102, 168-169; stone, 
284-285; stones supports for, 101; washing 
of, 172 

Kickapoo, buffalo-hide trunks of, 296; weaving 
of, 234 

Kicking game, 58 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



433 



Kime'ii'im Oke'mas, acknowledgment to, 20; 
bark lodge of, 97-98; drum of, 350-351; hair- 
cut of, 130-131; statue belonging to, 331 

Kine'sa, acknowledgment to, 20; resident on 
Little river, 384; warclub of, 317 

Ki'niktnlk or dried sumac leaves, 359 

Kitaga'sa muski'ki'' or Spotted fawn medicine, 
175 

Kites inhabiting empyrean, 30 

Ki'tikou, warclub of. 316 

Knife, crooked, 288, 294, 321; used: in tanning, 
225-226; to cut kernels, 160; to scrape pitch, 
166; knives: bone, 320; copper, 280,320,375, 
378; shell, 377; stone, 320, 375, 377, 378, 384 

Knife-sheaths, 127-128, 141, 319-320, 329 

Ko'kosh, Thomas, acknowledgment to, 20 

Kse'icatosa, acknowledgment to, 20 



facial painting in, 132; playing of, in Spirit- 
land, 45 ; sticks : 338 ; and balls, 367 ; miniature, 
310 
Ladles, wooden, 170, 173, 286, 289-290, 336. 

See Spoons 
Lake Michigan, sturgeon in, 199; tribal habitat 

on, 83 
Lake Oshkosh, native name for, 388 
Lake Poxgan, native name for, 388; village-site 

on, 380 
Lake Shau'ano, portage to, 385 
Lake Superior, tribes north of, 187, 301 
Lake Winnebago, 218; native name for, 387 
Lakes, supernatural denizens of, 32 
Land of spirits, children coming from, 52-53; 
road to, 44-45 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



434 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Language, by signs, 58-59; of Menomini, Algon 
kian, 24, 28. See Speech 

Lard, bladders for storing, 301 

Lattice designs, painted, 363 

Leaf-shaped stone knives, 375 

Leather, ammunition-bags, 329-330; binder, 122 
burden-straps, 213; dance-bustle, 121; gar- 
ments, 109; knife-sheaths, 127-128, 320, 329 
loops, 348; making of, 226-229; patterns for 
cutting, 338; quill embroidering of, 275 
sewed with awls, 304; thongs, 251; tobacco- 
pouches, 365-366, See Saddle-leather 

Leaves, designs from, 271-273; molds shaped 
like, 171 

Legend, of corn, 154-156; of hairless bear. 190; 
of maple-sugar, 164-165; of tobacco, 357-358. 
See Afyths ^ 

Leggings, native terms for, 141; of broadcloth, 
115-116, 268; of deerskin, 114-115; of doe- 
skin, 229; of women, 125 

Life, dependent on supernatural beings, 32, 38; 
given by Ma"nabus, 40 

Light or Wa'pan, connection of I\Ia"nabus con- 
cept with, 36-38 

Lightning, controlled by Thunderbirds, 259; con- 
ventional representation of, 261; of Thunder- 
birds, 135; pebbles having power of, 317-318; 
sign language for, 59 • 

Linen, warp formed of, 252 

List, of dances, 74-75; of tribal games, 58 

Little Brother, title of popcorn, 157, 163 

Little hill. Wis., deer drive near, 183 

Little Pot-belly or Pepdkiji'se, colloquial term for 
youngest son, 51 

Little river, village-sites along, 371, 384 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


435 


Little Sand Dune people, a band name, 380 
Little Siiamico, Wis., native name for camp site 

at, 385; village-sites at, 280, 326, 370, 380 
Little Suamico river, village-sites along, 83, 371 
Little Wolf or Na'xpatao, 45. See Na'xpatao 
Liver used in tanning, 225 
Livijig skeleton, 31 
Lodge, festooned with trophies, 190; for Je"sako 

rites, 71; for sacred objects. 92; log, 107-108 ; 

Medicine, 38-39, 64-65, 81, 390; of boughs, 

on going to war, 61-63; special for women, 

52-54, 93, 108. See Mitd'u'in, Outhouse 
Lodges, construction of, 88-103, 107; durability 

of, 104-105; location of, 105-106; of beavers, 

179; Thunderbird painted on, 263; tvpes of, 

83-88, 244. See Semi-globular lodge, Summer 

lodge 
Log, across river to Spirit-land, 44-45; canoes, 

208, 216, 222-223, 288; lodges, 88. 107-108; 

mortars, 288, 303, 309; statue hewn from, 331; 

sugar-camp, 168; used in deadfall, 187-188; 

used in tanning, 226, 229; vat made of, 168;. 

water-drum made of, 345; logs tied over 

roofing, 95 
London New Monthly Magazine, account of 

cannibalism in, 192 
Long-house, construction of, 99-100, 103, 107; 

distribution of, 87-88. See Medicine lodge 
Long Island, Algonkian sherd from, 262; semi- 
globular lodge on, 85 
Looms, see Frame, Heddles 
Loon, head of, carved, 347; native name for, 197 
Love, matches, rarity of, 54-55; stories of, 78 
Love-charms, 67; deer as, 264; puppets as, 334- 

335 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





436 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Lozenge designs, 243, 248,^265, 269, 272 

Lungs, eaten by witches, 70 

Lrrre, song of beaver as, 174; lures: in fishing, 

203-204; in hunting, 185, 187-189 
Lxe, corn hulled in, 161, 237; wi'kop boiled in. 

'249 
Lynx, native name for, 196; representative of 

Underground Panther, 31; trapping of, 191 

McCall, George, resident on Little river, 384 

Mackenzie river, tribes of, 118 

Mackinac, Mich., village-sites at, 381 

Magic, hunting controlled by, 173-176; life pro- 
longed by, 38; lures, 188; sympathetic, 333- 
334; tales of, 77. See Medicines, Witchcraft 

Mahican, chief, facial painting of, 262-263 
tribes, hairless bear of, 190 

Maize, see Corn 

Malevolent powers: angered by Ma"nabus, 38- 
39; Great White Bear, 31; habitat of, 29-33 
Hairless bear, 31; Horned Hairy Serpent, 31; 
Na'^patao, 45; Panther, 31; placation of , 32 
35;White Deer, 31; witches patronized by, 34, 
69-70. See Underneath gods 

Ma"nabus or Great Dawn, cycle of, 35-38, 77 
effigy handle representing, 289; gifts of animals 
to, 65; hunting charms given by, 173-174 
inventions of, 200; maple sap modified by, 
164-165; marriage customs derived from, 54; 
medicines given by, 40, 66, 175-176; Na'^patao 
brother of, 45, 177; power of Mita'wape and 
Te'pape derived from, 72-73; recreation of 
earth by, 36, 179; rites of Medicine lodge 
shown to, 38-41; shut-eye dance of, 380 
tobacco gift of, 357-358; waste an offence 
against, 171 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


437 


Maud an attacked by ]\Ienomini, 60 
Manitou of Keshena falls, 199; manitous: 
animal, 32, 177; hunting-bundle given by, 
174; of water, 147 
MatiUou Place people, a band group, 381 
Manitowoc, Wis., village-sites at, 381 
Ma"nomdneo Ina'nhvug or Wild rice men, 

derivation of JNIenomini, 142 
Maple, bowls of, 287; spoons of, 289 
Maple-leaf design, 278 

Maple-sugar, boxes for holding, 170, 274, 295, 
309; cooked vnih. corn, 157; dance at making 
of, 75; gathering of sap for, 165-168; legend 
of, 164-165; making of, 168-172; native terms 
for, 172-173 
Maple-syrup, caching of, 152; in cooking, 206 
Margined tortoise, shell of, used for bowls, 288 
Marinette, Wis., J. V. Satterlee born near, 386 
Maritime culture of Menomini, 371 
Marquette, Fere Jacques, on rice culture, 151 
Marriage, charms efticacious in, 67, 334-335; 

customs of, 54-56 
Marrow, soup flavored with, 162 
Marten, Deborah, acknowledgment to, 370; quill- 
work belonging to, 274 
Marten-skin, tobacco pouches of, 366 
Masks of birch-bark at Beggar's dance, 75. See 

False-face 
Mason, 0. T., on basketr>% 231-234; on textile 

arts, 230 
Masons, see Free and Accepted Masons 
Massachusetts, semi-globular lodge in, 85 
Master of rice, 144. See Grandfather 
Mat, fireplace marked by, 89; serving as door, 
90, 98, 247; mats: arbors covered with, 99; 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





438 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




as hangings, 238, 242; as wrappers, 241, 311, 
313; bark,_205, 236, 247-248, 294; cattail, 244- 
247; coloring of, 343; geometric designs used 
in, 279; lodges covered with, 85, 100; native 
names for, 309; needles for sewing, 307-308; 
reed, 91, 96, 238-243, 311, 313; rush, 90, 160; 
shelter of, 107; vegetables dried on, 153. See 
Cattail mats 

Mate Hawa'tuk or Great Spirit, 29. See Great 
Spirit 

Mdtckine'u, native name for Charles Chickeney. 
See Chickeney, Charles 

Mate Wa'pus or Great Hare, birth of, 35-36. 
See Ma"ndhus 

Mauls, for beating copper, 280; stone, 383 

Maumee river. Fort Meigs on, 192 

Meal, made of corn, 159; made of wild rice, 151 

Meats, cooking of, 152, 193-196; drying of, 102. 
108, 157, 193-194, 309; native terms for, 196- 
198 

Medallions adorning fillets, 110 

Medicine-hag, native term for, 141; medicine- 
bags: bead work, 254, 335; charms against 
hostile, 67; clam-shell in, 293; of woven quill- 
work, 119; opening of, 34; Panther design on. 
263-265; quilled, 274-276, 329; seating in 
accordance with, 65; serpent design on, 265; 
shooting with, 39, 81, 390; toilet-sets in, 138; 
tufts decorating, 366 

Medicine-bundles, ceremonies of, 34, 354-355; 
hung on pole, 93; kept in place of honor, 92; 
woven quillwork in, 119 

Medicine Ceremony of the Menomini, Iowa, and 
Wahpeton Dakota, A. Skinner, author, 347 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



439 



Medicine dance, 74; ceremonial structure for, 81, 
87-88, 90, 100, 103; origin myth of, 31, 39-40. 
See Mitd'unn 

Medicine lodge, shooting in, 390; used for me- 
morial ceremony, 81. See Long-house, Mitd'- 
li'in 

Medicine-man, dance-bag of, 256. See Shahman 

Medicines, birch-bark dish for, 134; for fishing, 
208; given by Ma' nabus, 40; kept from 
women in menses, 54, 93; magic, 62, 173- 
176, 341; mortars for, 137; of jMita'win, 65-68; 
of So 'man Jim, 97; of witches, 70, 384; wooden 
utensils for, 286-287. See Charms, Herbs 

Mediumship of turtle, 71 

Memorial ceremony of Mita'win, 45-46, 81. 
See Funeral rites 

Men, clothes carried by,247; dress of, 109-122, 
128-130, 140; friendship representation of, 
265; stone pipes property of, 362; uncles title 
of, 39, 164, 357. See Warriors 

Menasha, Wis., native name for village-site at, 
387 

Mending of bark dishes, 166 

Menominee, ]\lich., native name for village-site 
at, 386 

Menominee river, native names for parts of, 386- 
387; tribal ancestors on, 46; village-sites on, 
83,371-372,379-380 

Menomini, derivation of term, 142 

Menomini reservation. Wis., 331, 383, 389 

Menses regarded as unclean, 52, 54, 93, 145, 
314 

Messengers of Great Spirit, 30 

.1/^/(7/, adzes, 222; awls, 219, 305; brooches, 126, 
141; jinglers, 140, 355; tools of silversmiths, 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



440 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




281-282; used in pipe-making, 362-365. See 
Brass, Copper, Iron, Silver 

Metal-work, 279-282 

Metamorphosis, 39, 46-47, 69-70, 199-200, 343. 
379-380,387 

Metates, 304 

Miami, weaving of, 234 

Mica in love-charm, 335 

Mice, precautions against, 159, 240 

Michigan, Menomini sites in, 381, 386; Ojibwa 
in, 232 

Michiiimackinac people, a band group, 381 

Middle-Atlantic states, bear legends in, 190 

Milky way or Road of the dead, 44 

Milwaukee, Wis., village-sites at, 381 

Milwaukee Public Museum, see Public Museum 
of the City of Milwaukee 

Miniature, bows and arrows, 369; canoes, 360; 
lacrosse sticks, 310; stone pipes,- 362; war- 
clubs, 62, 310, 312, 316; weapons, 215 

Mining of copper, 279 

Mink, supernatural power of, 174 

Mink-fur, strips of, 356 

Mink-skin, medicine-bags of, 274; tobacco- 
pouches of, 366 

Minnesota, catlinite quarries of, 361 

Minnow, artificial, 203-204 

Mirrors, in toilet-set, 136-137; warclubs bearing, 
317 

Misa'sakiwis or hunting bundle, 173-174, 355 

Misha'kwut, Mrs, living at High Banks, 372, 
383-384 

Mississauga, goblin of, 210 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



441 



Mississippi river, Menomini bands on, 381; 
Menomini warfare along, 60; tribes east of, 
118; valley, 355 

Mitd'o, cooking, 205; of corn legend, 156 

Mitd'ii^ape, cult of, 72-73 

Mita'ii'in, birch-bark formulae of, 340; connection 
of otter with, 109-110; dance-bags of, 256; 
dance of, 74; facial painting in, 132; funeral 
rites of, 45-46, 75, 81, 96-97; head-dress of, 
110; initiation into, 46, 64, 81; ladles for feast 
of, 289; medicines of, 65-68; necklaces dis- 
tinctive of, 140; origin myth of, 38-41, 76-77; 
protection of, against witches, 69; relation of, 
to Dreamers, 42; safe journey to Otherworld 
through, 38, 44; toilet-sets of, 137-138; use 
of clam-shells in ceremony of, 293; water- 
drum of, 345-347. See Medicine lodge 

Mittens made of buckskin, 229 

Moccasin, bag in form of, 136; economic import- 
ance of, 211; soft-soled, of Easterti culture, 
277; moccasins: beaded, 254; infants', 
pierced, 52-53; jinglers on, 355; made of buck- 
skin, 228-229; native terms for, 141; of men, 
117-118; of women, 125; patterns for cutting, 
338; quilled, 274; worn in threshing rice, 148 

Moccasin game, 58, 369; drum for, 349 

Mococks, 294-295; maple-sugar stored in, 170; 
rice stored in, 147 

Moieties, traces of, in phratries, 49 

Molds for maple-sugar, 170-171 

Monitor pipe, Thunderbird design on, 262; pipes. 
362 

Moon, concept of,-30 

Moose, comb-case from antler of, 139, 338; flint 
boiled in grease of, 323; hearts, roasting of. 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



442 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




194; native name for, 196; skinning of, 224; 
superstitions concerning, 180 

Morning Star or Wa'bano, concept of, 30; power 
derived from, 71; visions given by, 33; war- 
bundles gifts of, 310; warclub gift of, 316 

Morse, E. S., arrow-release of, 327 

Mortar for paint, 137; mortars, 151, 157, 205; 
stone, 285; wooden, 159, 288, 303-304, 309 

Mortuarv, customs, 45-46, 75, 80-81, 96-97, 
260-261, 340-341; offerings, 44, 78-80. See 
Motirning 

Mother-in-law taboo, 56 

Moths, designs from, 271-272; precautions 
against, 225 

Mounds, effigy, 264, 373-374; tribal, 84, 390 

Mountain lion design, 234 

Mourning, 81-82; blackening of face in, 132; 
duration of, 145 

Mouse-corn or popcorn, 157, 163 

Mud, earth recreated from, 179 

Mudje'kiuns, colloquial term for firstborn, 49- 
50 

Mullers, 304 

Murder, contrived by witches, 70; trial of, 
52 

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foun- 
dation, researches of, 19,97-98, 114,230,242- 
243, 262, 329, 364 

Music, tribal, 28 

Musical instruments, 344-357 

Musikaho'sa Pagivii'tik, village-site named for, 
386 

Musk as lure, 188 

Muskhogean or Gulf culture, semi-globular lodge 
of, 85 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


443 


Muskraf, name of: 196; Wisconsin derived from, 
381; muskrats: hunting of, 190; superstitions 
concerning, 179 

Muskrat gens, 48 

Musselshells, as implements, 378; as molds, 171; 
as scrapers, 161 

Myths, connected with hunting, 173-180; four 
classes of, 76-78; of deer's fur, 178; of Hare 
trickster, 35-38; of Horned hairy snake, 31- 
32, 384; of Mita'win, 64-65; of otter, 109-110; 
of sturgeon, 199-200, 387; of tribal origin, 
46-47, 200, 372, 379-380; of wild rice, 142- 
143. See Legejid 

Xaimowa'pikineu, acknowledgment to, 20 
Naia'towapomi, JNIrs, acknowledgment to, 20 
Ndkii'ti, Philip, acknowledgment to, 20; gift of 
bag from, 265; on grooved axes, 318-319; 
potter>'-making described by, 282-284; village 
named for, 390 
Names, changing of, 53, 63; in Thunder gens, 
49-51; of gentes and phratries, 47-49; of 
tribal bands, 379-382; tribal, of places, 382- 
390 
Ndnawe'tauunik or police for wdld rice, 143-144 
Na'xpatdo or Wolf, birth of, 35-36; death of, 
3^, 177; power of physicians derived from, 
73; prayers to, 45-46, 75; ruler of Spirit-land 
45,81 
Nd'lciu'ishko, acknowledgment to, 20 
Nation of Wild Oats or Folles-Avoines, 151 
Nature, concept of, 31-33 

Nawagi'zikii'dp, acknowledgment to, 20; sacri- 
ficial dish belonging to, 359 
Necklace, shaman's, 351; necklaces, of bear's 
claws, 128, 140, 388-389; of men, 128, 140; 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





444 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




of women, 126-127, 140; of woven beadwork, 

118-119, 255, 256 
Needles, bone, 307-308; for beadwork, 252-254; 

for mats, 245-246; for tattooing, 134-135; 

native names for, 309 
Neopit, Wis., named for Ni' opit Oshkosh, 389; 

So'man Jim's lodge near, 96 
Nephew, duties of, to partizan, 61; of corn myth, 

154-156 
Nets, see Gill-nets 
Netting of snowshoes, 307 
Nettles, fiber from, 232, 251, 309 
Neville, A. C, acknowledgment to, 370; artifacts 

found by, 385 
New Brunswick, N. J., monitor pipe at, 262 
New England, semi-globular lodge in, 85 
New Jersey, Thunderbird designs in, 262 
New London, Wis., native name for village-site 

at, 388 
Neiv York, Algonkian potsherd firom, 262; 

coastal, tortoise-shell bowls in, 288; house 

types in, 85-87; Iroquois culture of, 376; 

Iroquois sites in, 355 
Night, attacks by, 61; dread of, 31, 44, 69, 209- 

210; hunting and fishing by, 185, 201 
Nito'tdm, salutation between Bear-Eagle and 

Wolf- Wave gentes, 46-47 
Noisy persons, drowning of, 387 
North, cannibal giants of, 31; deer turning 

toward, 178; s\Tnbolic color for, 268-269 
North America, house types in, 85-87 
North American mythology, concept of Great 

Hare in, 37-38; Horned hairy serpent in, 31 
Nose, hooked, of Thunderbird, 263; punishment 

by loss of, 55, 82; noses of canoe, 221-222 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


445 


Notched, arro^\^)oints, 327, 37S; mauls, 280, 383 
Nuts, edible, 162, 164 

Oak-leaf and acorn design, 271 

Oblong designs in appliqu?, 269 

Ocean, earth floating in, 29; island visited by 
Ma'"nabus in, 176 

Ocher, yellow derived from, 132 

Oconto, Wis., copper implements at, 280, 375; 
native name for village-site at, Z^?); stone 
arro^vpoints at, 327; tribal site near, 201 

Oconto county. Wis., tribal sites in, 370 

Oconto falls, Wis., native name for, 385 

Oconto Red Banks, Wis., native name for village- 
site at, 385 

Oconto river, village on, 390; village-sites on, 83, 
370-371, 379, 383-385 

Offerings, of food to ghost, 44; to Horned hairy 
snake, 384; to Wa'bano, 332. See Sacrifices 

Ohio, British campaign in, 192 

Ojibica, arrow-release of, 327-329; clothing of, 
133; communal lodge of, 99-100; concept 
of Trickster among, 37; customs of, 27-28; 
data gathered among, 20; deadfalls used by, 
187-188; decorative designs of, 258; dialect 
of, 24; embroidery of, 119, 267; fish-snares 
among, 202; floral designs of, 257, 273, 277- 
278; goblin of, 210; horses of, 213; ice-chisels 
of, 202; ice-fishing among, 203; moccasins of, 
117-118; myths of, 76, 374; semi-globular 
lodge of, 86; storage receptacles of, 301; 
weaving of, 232, 234; women's pipes among, 
362 

Oka"to band, 380 

Oki'tcita or soldiers of the Plains tribes, 52 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





446 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Oneida, basketry of, 293; data gathered among, 

20 
Opening of sacred bundles, 34, 61, 174 
Open twined weaving, 234, 237-238 
Openwork embroidery, 267, 274 
Orchard, W. C, acknowledgment to, 230, 233, 

235, 236, 243 
Orientation, determined by medicine-bags, 65; 

of deer, 178; of Medicine lodge, 46, 81; of 

Sky Women, 268; of winter lodge, 89 
Origin, of tobacco, 357-359; tribal, 35, 46-47, 

200, 372, 379-380. See Legend, Myths 
Ornaments, parts of deer as, 179; silver, 280-281 
Osage, charms among, 127; shields of, 319; 

war-bundles among, 313; war of Menomini 

against, 60 
Oshkosh, Wis., native name for ledge near, 387; 

native name for village-site at, 387-388; 

village-sites near, 381 
Oshkosh, Mrs Ni'opit, acknowledgment to, 20 
Oshkosh, Ni'optl, acknowledgment to, 19; ammu- 
nition-bag of, 329-330; burden-strap of, 214; 

native costume of, 113-114; village named for, 

389 
Osiers, black elm, 294. See Willow 
Olherworld, see Land of spirits 
Oto, data gathered among, 20; war-bundles 

among, 313 
Ottawa, Menomini related to, 372-373 
Otter, Ma' nabus persuaded by, 39; supernatural 

powers of, 109-110 
Oiler-fur, fillets of, 109-111, 140; strips of, 115, 

348, 356, 363 
Otter-skin, medicine-bags of, 274, 329, 390; 

tobacco-pouches of, 366 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



447 



Outhouse, for menses, 54, 93, 108; for parturition, 

52; for sacred bundles, 92 
Oval, designs in applique, 269; ground-plan of 

lodge. 86; knives, 375; wooden bowls, 286- 

287,309 
Over-and-undcr weaving, 243 
Old, as evil charm. oZ^-ZZd; as patron of watches, 

70; owls, native names for, 197; witches 

transformed into, 69 
Owners of war-bundles, part of, in sacrifice, 60; 

war power vested in, 51 

Pabokowd'o or goblin, 210-211 

Pack-saddles, 212-213 

Pack-straps used in building lodge, 89. See 
Burden-straps 

Paddle, canoe. 222-223; paddles: spreading, 205, 
222; stirring, 148, 166, 170 

Pagan, beliefs among ]Menomini, 24, 42-43; 
coiffure, 123; party, decimated by influenza, 
27; party, Perrote leader of, 387; settlement, 
331, 389 

Paia'tckoii'it, Jim, see Biina'i-gi'zik 

Pails, birch-bark, 294-295. See Buckets 

Paint, in toilet-set, 136-137; in war-bundles, 312. 
See Painting 

Paint-brush in toilet-set, 136 

Painted turtle, superstition concerning, 179 

Painting, 330, 340; of body, 132-133; of buffalo- 
hide trunks, 298; of canoe, 222; of carved 
designs, 337, 359; of drum, 346, 348-351; of 
face, 78, 81, 132-133, 262-263; of games, 367- 
369; of garments, 113, 115, 340; of grave- 
posts, 80, 260, 341; of lodges, 263; of pipe- 
stems, 363; of sacred pole, 92-93; of statue, 
331-332; of wampum, 60; of warclubs, 317 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



448 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Paintings, by Catlin, 319; on war-bundle wrap- 
per, 311 
P an- A I go nk Ian, long-house, 87; mythical bear, 

190; Thunderbird design, 262; type of jars, 

284-285. See Algonkians 
Panther, arrowpoints made from claws of, 322; 

designs on bags, 263-265; inhabiting lonely 

places, 32; native name for, 196. See Great 

Underground Panther 
Parching, of corn, 157-158; of rice, 148, 150, 151 
Partizans, war duties of, 60-63 
Partridge-dung or fourth grade of sugar, 172 
Partridge lake, native name for, 388 
Paste, used to outline stencils, 273 
Patterns for moccasins, 338. See Designs, 

Weaving 
Paunch boiling, 195 
Peace-pipes, 363; badge of commander-in-chief, 

52 
Pebble pipes, 362 
Pebbles, as sinkers, 201; in rattles, 351-352; 

regarded as thunderbolts, 317-318; stone axes 

pecked with, 319 
Pecking of stone, 284, 319 
Pecore, Joe, acknowledgment to, 20 
Pecore, Sophie, acknowledgment to, 20 
Pegs used in stretching skins, 227, 229 
Pelts, tanning of, 225. See Skins 
Pelvic bone, used as rasp, 250, 251 
Pendants, of fur, 110, 136; of woven beadwork, 

122, See Danglers, Streamers, Strips 
Pensaukee, Wis., native name for village-site at, 

385 
Pensaukee river, village-sites along, 83, 371 
Pepdkiji'se, colloquial term for youngest son, 51 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



449 



Pcvotc, Wis., named for Judge Perrote, 390 

Pcrrote, John Sabatis, acknowledgment to, 20, 
26. 218; grooved stone axe of, 318; parents of. 
3S7; residence of, 389; village named for, 390 

Perrote, Mrs John, acknowledgment to, 20 

Personal names, 53. See Names 

Peshtigo, Wis., copper implements at, 280; native 
name for village-site at, 386 

Peshtigo river, eftigy mound near, 373-374; 
native name for, 386; village-sites along, 83, 
371,386 

Peshtigo River people, a band name, 379 

Pestles, 303, 309; for crushing corn, 159 

Pewter, pipe inlays of, 362 

Peyote religion, converts to, 24, 42-43, 97 

Phlox, Wis., village near, 389 

Phratries, tribal. 46-51. See Gentcs 

Physicians, see Shaman, Tcipinini 

Picture-nriting on birch-bark, 312 

Pigeon, Louis, acknowledgment to, 20 

Pigment, charcoal as, 222; in tattooing, 134-135; 
in toilet-set, 136 

Pike Place people, a band name, 379 

Piku'il'kunao Oma'nikiin, village named for, 390 

Pine, forests, scarcity of reeds in, 105; tips 
attached to sugar-making stick, 169; trees, 
pitch of, 166; weaving-frame of, 252 

Pine-roots or wata'p, canoe sewed with, 218-220, 
222. See Wata'p 

Pipe, monitor, from New Jersey, 262; sacrifice 
of, 35; pipes: 358, 360-365, 373; ceremonial, 
lighting of, 303; of Dreamers, 41-42; terra- 
cotta, 375, 384 

Pipestems, 363; wrappings for, 275 

Pipe'tomahaii'ks, 364-365 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



450 



ME NO MINI CULTURE 



Pitch used for calking, 166, 168, 222 

Pitfalls for bears, 188 

Pits, on village-sites, 100-102, 384; on Wolf 
river, 84. See Caches 

Pitwd'skum, acknowledgment to, 19; evil charm 
of, 335-336; war-bundle of, 340 

Placation, of game, 177-178; of malevolent 
powers, 32-33, 144, 149, 167; of war-bundles. 
313. See Punishment 

Place-names, tribal, 382-390 

Place of honor in lodge, 92, 108 

Plain twined weaving, 232-234 

Plains tribes, buffalo hunt among, 52; circular 
camps of, 105-106; concept of Spider or 
Coyote among, 37; crow belt of, 121; data 
gathered among, 20; decorative designs of, 
276-278; Dreamers originating in, 41; Thun- 
derbird design among, 263; tipis of, 99; tobac- 
co-pouches of, 365-366 

Plaiting of reeds, 241. See Braiding 

Platform, sacred, 108. See Scaffolds 

Platter, sacrificial, 359 

Plumed icarrior, inlay representing, 316 

Plumes on dance-bustle, 121. See Feathers 

Poisons, arro\\'points smeared with, 327; of 
sorcerers, 265 

Pole, for propelling canoe, 145-146; sacred to 
medicine-bundles, 92-93, 108; poles, frame- 
work of, 88-89, 91, 93-94, 100. See Stick 

Police, guarding rice-beds, 143-144; war leaders 
as, 51-52 

Polygamy formerly practised, 55 

Pommel, car\^ed, 212-213 

Ponca, data gathered among, 20 

Ponds, supernatural denizens of, 32 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


451 


Pony Richmond, village named for, 389 

Popcorn, native name for, 157, 163 

Porcupine, bowl carved to represent, 336, 359; 
roasting of, 195; tail as comb-cleaner, 139; 
tufts as roach, 111 

Porcupine gens, 47 

Porcupine-quills, coloring of, 343; rawhide 
pouches for holding, 301; smoother for, 275, 
308-309. SeeQuilli^ork 

Pork as lure, 188 

Portage, Wis., village-site at, 380 

Portage people, a band group, 380 

Portrait of jMahican chief, 262-263; portraits, 
340 

Potatoes, see Wild potatoes 

Potawatomi, bone awls of, 304; customs of, 27- 
28; deer design among, 264; Forest: cultiva- 
tion of tobacco by, 358; data gathered among, 
20; embroider>^ of, 267; horses of, 213; Me- 
nomini related to, 372-373; mortars of, 303- 
304; name, 389; Peyote religion among, 24, 
42; Plains: origin of Dreamers in, 41; Thun- 
der-garters of, 259; tobacco-pouches of, 366- 
367; waist of, 126; war-bundles among, 313; 
weaving of, 234 

Pot-hooks, 102 

Pottery, 309, 373, 375, 378, 383, 384, 385; from 
Shinnecock Hills, 262; geometric designs used 
in, 279; process of manufacture, 282-285 

Pouches, beaded, 256, 259; for shot, 329-330; for 
tobacco, 120, 365-367; quilled, 274; rawhide, 
299-301; woven, 232, 242. See Bags 

Powder from human heart, 334-335 

Powderhorn,329 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





452 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Poiver, contained in sacred bundles, 67-68; de- 
rived from dreams, 259; of hunting bundles, 
173-176; of Ma"nabus, 39; of otter, 110. See 
Blessing, Courage 

Prairie du C/tien, Wis., village-site at, 381 

Prairie fires caused by painted turtle, 179 

Prairie-grass, lodge of, 107 

Prairie tribes, see Plains tribes 

Prayer, absolution through, 178; accompanying 
medicines, 66; accompanying sacrifice, 34; at 
rice harvest, 144, 149; decorative designs as. 
257, 261; in gathering medicines, 66; offered 
at lacrosse, 56; on making journey, 209; to 
Na'^patao, 45-46; to puppets, 333-334 

Preserves, of fruits, 162; of wild potatoes, 153 

Prisoners' base game, 58 

Prisoner-tie in war-bundle, 312-313 

Prophecy, see Future 

Prophets, of Wa'bano cult, 71; supernatural 
visions of, 33-34 

Puberty, dream revelations of, 34, 259, 316; fast 
of. 53-54; of girls, 54 

Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, acknowl- 
edgment to, 19, 136, '297, 304, 370, 383 

Pudding, roe, 205-206 

Pulling-stick for harvesting rice, 146 

Punishment, for adultery, 55, 82; of evildoers, 
45. See Placation 

Punk, fire made with, 303 

Puppets, carved, as charms, 70, 332-336 

Purchase, initiation by, 40, 64; of charms, 68, 
176; of medicines, 65-66; of sacred bundles, 
67-68; of war-bundles, 313 

Purification effected by washing, 45, 63-64 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



453 



Pygmies inhabiting earth, 32 

Pyrography, pipestems ornamented with, 365 

Quadrangular bark house for summer, 85. See 

Summer lodge 
Qu'Appelle river, Cree camp on, 263 
Quartz, arrowpoints, 322, 327; drills, 377 
Quill, tattooing instrument made of, 134 
Quilhvork, embroiderA', 125, 140, 256-257, 266- 
268, 274-275, 320, 330; holders for, 299-301; 
on birch-bark boxes, 295; on deerskin gar- 
ments, 113, 124-125; on pipestems, 363; on 
quiver, 329; on sheath, 127; on woman's head- 
dress, 122-123; smoother for, 275, 308-309; 
tassels, 312; woven, 119, 125, 257, 275 
Quiver, quilled, 329 

Rabbit's hind-leg warclubs, 314 

Rabbits, hunting of, 190-191; native names for, 
196 

Raccoons, roasting of, 194 

Racing ponies game, 58 

Rags, burning of, 209-210 

Rain, dance for, 75 

Raritan site, N. J., Thunderbird design from, 262 

Raspberries eaten by bear, 189 

Rasping of string, 250-251 

Rattles, accompanying war songs, 61; at funerals, 
78; attached to war-bundles, 311; gourd, 352- 
354; in tattooing outfit, 134; of deer-hoofs 
and dew-claws, 354; of So'man Jim, 98'. See 
Gourd rattles 

Rattlesnake, arro^^'points smeared with poison of, 
327; etched on bracelet, 128 

Ravelings used in weaving, 232 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



454 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Raven, magic of, 312 

Rawhide, moccasins soled with, 118; pouches, 
299-301; saddles, 212; used in slungshot, 317 

Realistic designs, carved, 337, 368; embroidered, 
267; in beadwork, 278; symbolism of, 128. 257, 
259-265. ^t& Designs 

Realm of the dead, see Land of spirits, Na'^patao 

Red, dye, 344; face painted with, 132; fur of deer, 
178; games painted with, 367-368; grave-Dosts 
painted with, 80, 260, 341; mats. 248'; sa- 
cred pole painted with, 92-93; sacrificial dish 
painted with, 359; paint on Wolf river, 389; 

. shale, etched, 262; skirts of women, 124; 
symbolism of, 132-133, 268, 317, 346, 348; 
wampum painted with, 60; warclubs painted 
with, 317; yarn, 232. See Scarlet, Vermilion 

Red cedar, spoons of, 289 

Red corn, cooking of, 162 

Red top root, a plant, 135 

Red-willow bark as tobacco substitute, 358-359 

Reed, mats, 91, 96, 238-243, 309, 311, 318; reeds, 
pitfalls covered with, 188; scarcity of, in 
forests, 105; whistles, 311, 355-356 

Relationship, see Family 

Relatives, joking relationship among, 55-56, 59. 
See Family 

Religion, tribal, 28-46 

Religion and Ceremonies of the Lenape, Harring- 
ton, author, 211 

Resurrection, 177. See Hereafter, Soul 

Ribbons, dance-bustle adorned with, 121; hair 
braided with, 123; leggings bordered with, 
116; men's garments decorated with, 114. 
See Applique-work 

Rice, see Wild rice 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


455 


Rice-gathering-place people, a band group, 380 

Rice-maker, title of deity, 149 

Rilles, percussion-cap, 329 

Rhigs, silver, 281 

Rites, of bear, 75-76; of Buffalo cult, 73-74; of 

Dreamers, 41-42, 69; of Je"sako cult, 71-72; 

of Mita'wape, 72-73; of Mita'win, 40, 64-68; 

of Peyote religion, 42-43; of phratries, 48; of 

Te'pape, 72-73; of Thunder cult, 73; of 

Wa'bano cult, 71; of Witches' society, 69-71, 

341 
Rituals, of cults, given in dreams, 34, 54; in 

war-bundles, 310 
River bounding Land of spirits, 44-45; rivers, 

supernatural denizens of, 32 
River Mouth people, a band group, 381 
Roach, of dyed deer's hair, 109, 111-113; 

spreader for, 112-113 
Roaching of hair, 130, 335 
Road, of dead, 44-45; of Panther, 263-264 
Roasting, of fish, 204; of meats, 193-195 
Robes, portraits painted on, 340. See Dress 
Rocks, supernatural denizens of, 32 
Rock-shelters, ancient use of, 107-108 
Roe, cooking of, 205-206 
Rolling hoops game, 58 

Roof of summer house, 86-88. See Covering 
Roof -mats of winter lodge, 89-90. See Cattail 

mats 
Roots, as medicines, 38, 62, 66; edible, 162; in 

tattooing outfit, 134-135; in war-bundles, 311- 

312; solution of, 225 
Rope, bridles, 213; of cedar-bark to carr^' fire, 

303 
Rosettes adorning fillets, 110 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





456 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Round, stone: in slungshot, 317-318; in war- 
bundle, 311; wooden bowls, 286, 288, 309 

Rubbing tools, 226-227 

Ruffles, on men's garments, 114; on women's 
waists, 126 

Runners sent to declare war, 60-61 

Rush mat, corn-kernels dried on, 160; smoke- 
hole covered with, 90 

Rutgers College, monitor pipe in collection of, 
262 

Sacks, maple-syrup strained through, 170; pota- 
toes stored in, 153; rice stored in, 147, 151. 
See Storage-bags 

Sacred bundles, of So'man Jim, 97-98; purchase 
of, 67-68; quillwork in, 274; supernatural 
being carrying, 31-32. See Hunting-bundles, 
Medicine-bundles, War-bundles 

Sacred objects preserved in bags, 231 

Sacrifices, at lacrosse, 56; by witches, 69-70, 
333-334; human, 384; in sugar-making, 171; 
of tobacco, 108, 334, 359-360; of tobacco to 
buffalo, 74; of tobacco to earth, 35, 66; of 
tobacco to wolf, 178; to dead, 79-81, 261; to 
supernatural powers, 32-35; to Thunderbirds, 
144; to Underneath gods, 144, 149; to Wa'- 
bano, 331; to war-bundles, 60, 61, 313. See 
Offerings 

Sacrificial dishes, 260-261, 336, 359-360 

Saddle, see Pack-saddle 

Saddle-bags, yarn bags as, 213 

Saddle-leather, ammunition-bags of, 329 

St Charles, Mich., Ojibwa Indians near, 232 

Salem witches, 333-334 

Salt licks in hunting deer, 185 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


457 


Sandstone falls, Wis., effigy mound near, 373-374 

Santee, Menomini friendly with, 381. See 
Dakota 

Sap, see Maple-sugar 

Saplings, see Pole 

Sap-spout, 167, 172, 295 

Sashes of woven yarn, 120, 124; braiding of, 238; 
used as turbans, 109, 111 

Saskatchewan, Canada, Cree camp in, 263 

Satterlee, John V., acknowledgment to, 20, 2^, 
370, 382; artifacts found by, 384; birthplace 
of, 386; pipe-tomahawk bought by, 364; 
Thunderbird garters of , 259; village named for, 
390 

Sauk and Fox, appliqued breech-cloths of, 273; 
buffalo-hide trunks of, 296; carved ladles of, 
292; clothing of, 133, 141; customs of, 27-28; 
decorative designs of, 258, 264; green dye of, 
344; hair-binder of, 141; mat of, 242; Meno- 
mini related to, 24,372-373; shields of, 319; 
war-bundles among, 313; warfare against, 59- 
60, 316; wea\ang of, 234; Sauk, battle of, \Adth 
French, 388 

Saulteaux, Northern, arrows of, 326; cooking of, 
194; data gathered among, 20. See Ojibiva 

Scaffolds, for building, 103; for dn.-ing, 108, 153, 
204-205; for hunting. 185; for parching rice. 
150; kettles suspended from, 168-169 

Scalding of reeds, 239 

Scales of horned snake in love charm, 335 

Scallops design, 235 

Scalping, name changed as reward for, 63 

Scalp-lock, 130-131; roach attached to, 112-113 

Scalps, ceremony of, 62-64; in war-bundle, 311 

Scapula, bear's, spoon of, 292 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





458 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



Scarfs of woven beadwork, 119 

Scarlet-dyed deer-hair tufts, 355 

Schumacher, J. P., acknowledgment to, 370; 

artifacts found by, 280, 375, 383, 385; on 

early Menomini sites, 83 
Scraper of deer-jaw, 161; scrapers: shell, 378; 

stone, 375, 377, 385; used in tanning, 226-227 
Sculpture, 330-332. See Carving 
Sedge-grass, lodges covered with, 86, 107 
Seeds in rattles, 351-352 
Seers, see Prophets 
Sekdtcoke'mau, patron of wild rice, 143; sacrifice 

to, 144 
Semi-globular lodge, construction of, 88-93, 103; 

covering of, 244-246; distribution of, 85-86; 

durability of, 104 
Seminole, data gathered among, 20 
Seneca, data gathered among, 20; treatment of 

flint by, 323 
Separation by mutual consent, 55 
September, wild rice harvested in, 143, 151 
Serrated stone arrowpoints, 375 
Servants, of supernatural beings, 30-31; souls of 

slain enemies as, 44, 80 
Sewa'pimeniik, native term for succotash, 160 
Sewing, awls used in, 251, 304-305; of applique, 

268; of baskets, 294; of beadwork, 254-255; 

of canoe, 219-221; of cattail mats, 245-246, 

307; of mats, 241, 251; on leggings, 115. See 

Needles, Thread 
Seymour, E. A., effigy mound near residence of, 

'373-374 
Shagbark hickory, bows made of, 321 
Shagpoke gens, 48 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



459 



Shaman, children named by, 53; drums of, 349- 
351; friendship with, 26; of the MitaVin, 69; 
of the Wa'bano, 71; statue belonging to, 331, 
See Medicine-man 

Shawano county, Wis., mounds in, 373 

Shaiii worn by women, 124 

Shawnee, leggings of, 115; puppets of, ?>?)2>; Shaw- 
ano dance derived from, 75 

Sheaths, see Knife-sheaths 

Shell-heap at Shinnecock Hills, 262 

S hell in goi corn, 159-161 

Shellpits, tortoise-shell bowls in, 288 

Shells, as medicines, 66; as spoons, 292-293; 
necklaces of, 126-127, 140; uses of, 288,376- 
377. See Clam-shells, Musselshells, Tortoise- 
shell 

Shelves, built into lodges, 91-92 

Shields, ViiQoi,()2,Z\9 

Shinnecock Hills, L. I., potter>^ from, 262 

Shinny, game of women, 56, 58; stick and ball 
for,'338. 367 

Shiocton, Wis., native name for village-site at, 
388 

Shi'pikaii, Antoine, acknowledgment to, 20 

Ships, carved design, 338 

Shirts 114, 229 

Shooting, of fish, 204; with medicine-bags, 39, 
67,81,390 

Shot placed in drum, 351 

Shoulder-pouches, see Bandoleer-bags 

Shut-eye dance of ]\la"nabus, 380 

Sickness, aid of buffalo in curing, 74; banished 
by mask, 211; caused by witchcraft, 69-70, 
72; cured: by Dreamers, 41; by games, 
56; by Je"sako, 71-72; by Wa'bano, 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



460 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




351; medicines for, 65-67, 311-312; rattle- 
snake charm against, 128; tattooing as cure 
for, 133-135. See Medicines 

Sign language, 58-59, 181; signs of trail, 20.9 

Silk, thread, decorative use of, 121; women's 
waists of, 124, 126. See Appliqiie-n'ork, 
Ribbons 

Silver, bracelets of, 128; coins, drum decorated 
with, 348; ornaments of, 280-281; pipestems 
inlaid with, 363, 365. See German silver 

Silversmiths, tools used by, 281-282 

Sin, wandering in expiation of, 31-32. See 
Punishment 

Sinew, arrowpoints bound with, 323; as thread, 
179, 252, 304; bows wrapped with, 320; bow- 
strings of, 329; feathers attached with, 325 

Sinkers, notched, 201-202 

Siouan tribes, affiliation of Menomini mythology 
with, 76; charms among, 127; effect of war 
with Germany on, 27; Menomini friendly 
with, 360-361, 381; practical character of, 25; 
textile arts of, 230; Eastern: carved ladles of, 
292; deer design among, 264; pipe-making of, 
361-362; Southern: arbors among, 99; calu- 
met of, 75; decorative designs of, 258; demo- 
nology of, 31; Dreamers' societies of, 41; 
embroidery of, 267; floral designs of, 277; 
games of, 58; ornamental art of, 330-331; 
semi-globular lodges of, 86; string bags of, 
231; Thunderbird concept of, 262; war-bun- 
dles among, 313; Wahpeton: beaded bags of, 
330 

Sister, warrior's scalps received by, 63-64. See 
Sky-sisters 

Sizing, of bows, 321; of pottery, 283 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


461 


Skeleton, living, 31 

Skewers, food placed on, 60 

Skins, couch covered with, 98; in war-bundles, 

311-312; medicine-bags of, 39; paintings on, 

330, 340; removal of, 224-225; storage-sack 

of, 151; tobacco-pouches of, 120, 366. See 

skins of various animals 
Skirts, 124, 141 
SkuU of bear hung in woods, 75, 177; skulls: 

flying, 32; li\^ng, 77 
Skunk-root, a plant, 134 
Skunk-skin, tobacco pouches of, 366 
Sky color, 133. See Blue 
Sky-country, see. Empyrean 
Sky-sisters, 30; protective emblems of, 268-269; 

shinny belonging to, 56 
Sledges, 212 

Sleep caused by elf, 32 
Sleigh-bells, on dance-bustle, 121; on drum, 347- 

348 
Slippery-elm bark, calking with, 168; fiber, bags 

woven from, 232, 309 
Slungshot t>'pe of warclub, 317-318 
Smith, H. I., acknowledgment to, 234 
Smoked fish, 102, 204-205 
Smoke-hole, 90, 95, 98, 156, 168-169, 247 
Smoking, of hides, 228; of sacrificial tobacco, 35, 

144-145 
Snakes, charms against, 67; design, 264-265; 

magic of, 179, 312; skins in war-bundle, 62, 

311. See Horned hairy snakes, Rattlesnake 
Snapping tortoise attached to drum, 351 
Snapping turtle, ceremonial eating of, 179-180. 

See Turtle 
Snapping turtle gens, 47 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





462 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Snares, for fish, 201-202; for game, 173, 183- 

185, 190-191. See Traps , 
Snow caused by Mitii'o, 156 
Snowshoe, needles for, 307, 309; types of, 211-212 
Snow-snake game, 58, 368 
Social Life and Ceremonial Bundles of the Me- 

nomini Indians, A. Skinner, author, 215, 340 
Society of Dancing Men, Z^l . See Dreamers 
Socketed copper arrowpoints, 375 
Softening, of birch-bark, 217-218, 221; of copper, 

279-280; of flint, 323; of hide, 225, 226; of 

quills, 266, 275 
Socman Jim, acknowledgment to, 20; arrows of, 

325; bark lodge of, 96-98 
Song, accompanying rice threshing, 148; incan- 
tation by, 333-335; of beaver, 174; songs: 

accompanying medicines, 66; at funeral, 78; 

in bundle-ceremonies, 61, 355; in courting, 

357; in war-bundles, 310, 312; mating, 199; 

of Mita'win, 65; on opening war-bundle, 61; 

to stupefy enemy, 62 
Son-in-law, duties of, 181 
Sorcerers, charms against, 67; compact of, with 

evil, 33-34; enchanted arrows of, 69-70, 72; 

serpent design on bags of, 262-263. See 

Witchcraft, Witches, Wizards 
Soul, dual, 43; immortality of, 44, 81; return of, 

to body, 72; return of, to earth, 45-46, 75,81; 

souls of enemies, servants, 44, 80, See Ghost, 

Spirits 
Soups, 195; corn for, 160, 162; roe, 206; stock 

for, 228 
South, deer .facing, 178; four sisters of, 268; 

winter lodge facing, 89 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


463 


South Branch settlement, Wis., native name for, 
389 

Southeastern region, esthetic designs of, 276-277 

Spear-heads, copper, 280; stone, 187, 384 

Spears, fishing with, 199-201; hunting with, 187; 
of Thunderbirds, 135 

Speech, backward, 71; dog capable of, 179; of 
chief at rice harvest, 144, 149 

Spider or Coyote, concept of, 37 

Spider-iixb design, 265 

Spiral tivined weaving, 238 

Spirits, coaxing of children by, 52-53; com- 
munion with, 71; land of, 44-45. See Ghost, 
Soul 

Spits, roasting on, 193-195, 204 

Splint baskets, 96, 293-294 

Spoons, bone, 309; earthenware, 285; mussel- 
shells as, 378; shell, 292-293; wooden, 215, 
286, 289-292, 336 

Spotted Fawn Medicine, 175-176 

Spout, see Sap-spout 

Spreader for roach, 112, 113 

Spring, hunting in, 183-185, 189; sacrifice to 
war-bundles in, 60; sugar made in, 165; wi'kop 
prime in, 248 

Springs, inhabited by bears, 177-178 

Spruce-houghs, lodge of, 107 

Spruce-root, baskets sewed with, 294 

Squashes, garden of, 98; native terms for, 153, 
163 

Squirrel, surrender of, 182; squirrels: precautions 
against, 159, 240; roasting of, 195 

Squirrelskins, mortars made from, 137 

Stake, sorcerer's, 341-342 

Stallion, head of, carved, 356-357 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





464 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Star design, 258, 266; stars, molds shaped like, 
171 

Starvation prevented by hunting-bundles, 175- 
176. See Fasting 

Stat en Island, N. Y., Thunderbird design from, 
262 

Statue of Wa'bano, 97-98, 331-332, 338 

Steel, arrowpoints, 325; knife-blades, 316 

Stemmed arrowpoints, 327, 375 

Stencils, birch-bark, 273 

Stepped diamonds and triangles, 269-271 

Stews, 195 

Stick, placed at grave, 80; shinny, 367; sticks 
across ends of house-mats, 246; for harvesting 
rice, 146; for sugar-making, 169; lacrosse, 338, 
367; tapping of, in songs, 355. See Grave- 
posts, Pole 

Stiles, Wis., native name for village-site at, 384 

Still-hunting, 185, 189 

Stockbridges, basketry of, 293 

Stone, arrowpoints, 322-325, 327; axes, 312, 318- 
319; blades, 127; celts, 202-203, 314. 318, 319; 
dishes, 336, 359-360; hoes, 157; implements, 
139, 280; kettles, 284-285; kettles scoured 
with, 172; metates, 304; mortars, 285; objects 
on sites, 375-378, 383-385; pestles, 303; pipes, 
358, 360-362; round, 311, 317-318; sculpture 
in, 331; sinkers, 201-202; spear-heads, 187, 
384; stones: as medicines, 66; as supports for 
kettles, 101; used in baking corn, 161 

Storage, baskets for, 294-295; cases for, 205; in 
lodges, 91-92; of cattail mats, 105; of corn, 
159-160, 162; of fish, 205; of grease,- 301. 
See Caches, Mococks 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



Storage-bags, 152, 159, 162; weaving of, 231- 

236. See Sacks 
Storm caused by ]Mita'o, 156; storms caused by 

wasting rice, 147. See Weather 
Streaiiiers, deerskin thongs as, 115; of fur, 110, 

136; of quillwork, 122-123. See Danglers, 

Pendants, Strips 
String, bags, 159, 231-238; garters, 125; making 

of, 249-251; materials for, 166, 201, 231-232, 

248-249; used in roasting game, 193-194. See 

Bassiivod-bark, Wata'p, Wi'kop 
Stripping of bark, 216-217 

Strips, beadwork, 114, 254; cedar-bark, in weav- 
ing, 236, 242, 247-248; decorative, of wood, 

121; for basketry, 294; of fur, 115, 348, 356, 

363, 365; of quillwork, 275. See Danglers, 

Pendants, Streamers 
Sturgeon, preparation of, 204-205; spearing of, 

200; superstition concerning, 180; tribal myth 

of, 199-200, 387 
Sturgeon Bav, Wis., native name for village-site 

at, 386; village-site at, 380 
Sturgeon Bay people, a band group, 380 
Sturgeon falls. Wis., native name for, 387 
Suamicos, see Big Suamico, Little Suamico 
Sugar, see Maple-sugar 
Sugar bushes, 165, 172 
Sumac, leaves as tobacco substitute, 358-359; 

roots, yellow dye from, 344 
Summer lodge of bark, 85, 107; construction of, 

93-99; distribution of, 86-87; durability of, 

104r-105 

Summer sites, tribal, 84 

Sun, deerskin offered to, 75; inhabiting highest 
tier of empyrean, 29-30; power of Wa'bano 



465 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



466 



MENOMINI CULTURE 



derived from, 71; warriors' garments adorned 
with, 113. See Great Spirit 

Superstitions, concerning tie-strings, 118; con- 
nected with journeys, 209-211; hunting, 173- 
182, 194. ^ee Legend, Myths 

Suring, Wis., native name for village-site at, 385 

Swalloivs, inhabiting empyrean, 30; skins of, in 
war-bundles, 62, 312 

Swamp-ash hark, storage cases of, 205 

Sivamps, supernatural denizens of, 32 

Swan, see White Swan 

Sweet-grass baskets, 296 

Symbolism, of colors, 132-133, 268-269, 317, 346, 
348; of designs, 128, 257, 259-265, 268; of 
tufts decorating drum, 366; signifying death, 
80, 341 

Syrup used in cooking, 152-153. See Maple- 
syrup 

Syrup-stir rer, 169-170, 173 

Taboo, against women, 52, 54, 93, 145, 314; con- 
nected with mourning, 82, 145; imposed in 
dreams, 54; in cooking, 194; of mother-in-law, 
56 

Tail, of Great White Bear, 30-31; of Under- 
ground Panther, 263-264; tails: adding value 
to pelts, 229; as hair brushes, 139; as orna- 
ments, 110, 137; drum decorated with, 351 

Tally notches on bow, 321 

Tambourine drum, 349-351 

Tanning, 224-229 

Tassels, on drum, 347; on leggings, 115; quill- 
work, 312 

Tattooing, 133-135 

Td'wdhigun or drum of Dreamers, 347-349 

Tcika' pis or Trickster, 37. See Trickster 



INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


467 


Tcipinini or physicians of Na'^patao, 73 

'Tel iva' pus or Great Hare, 37. See Md''ndhus 

Tempering of clay, 282 

Te'papc, cult of, 72-73 

Thanksgiving at rice harvest, 149 

Thimbles decorating cradle, 215 

Thojigs, deerskin, 115, 213-214, 226-227, 252, 
317, 329, 330, 354; making of, 251 

Thread, silk, 121; sinew as, 179, 252, 304; spruce- 
root as, 294; twine as, 249; wata'p as, 218- 
220, 222 

Three-ply twined weaving, 234 

Threshing of rice, 147-148, 151 

Throwing sticks game, 58 

Thunder, anthropomorphic representation of, 
312,343 

Thunderblrd gens, 48-51, 388 

Thunderblrds, ancestors of Menomini, 46-47, 
387, 388; as dream guardians, 56, 259; birds 
representatives of, 30, 314; carvings repre- 
senting, 312, 337, 343, 354, 368; cult of, 34, 
73; designs of, woven, 241, 258-259, 261-264; 
emblems of, 311, 316; gods of war, 30, 314; 
lacrosse belonging to, 56; patrons of tattooing, 
133-135; sacrifice to, 144; war-bundles gifts 
of, 60, 310; warfare of, against evil, 33; whis- 
tles for calling, 311, 356 

Thunderbolts, pebbles regarded as, 317-318 

Thunderers, see Thunderbirds 

Thunder lake, deer drive at, 183 

Thunder society, dream revelation of, 34, 73 

Thunder-storm, drum cracked during, 73 

Tie-strings, superstition concerning, 118 

Tinder, cedar-bark as, 301-303 

Tipis of Plains tribes, 99 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





468 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Titles, of animals, 47, 179-180; of deities, 35, 38, 

66, 144, 149; of human beings, 39, 49-50, 164; 

of magic, 67, 174, 175, 335, 355; of plants, 144, 

157; significance of, in phratries, 48 
TlinkU, use of floral designs by, 277 
Toads, mating songs of, 199 
Tobacco, as declaration of war, 60; bags for, 120, 

365-367; dance in honor of, 75; given to 

corpse, 79; in charms, Z?)?); origin of, 357-359; 

pipes for, 360-365; placed in water-drum, 345; 

sacrificed, 34-35, 66, 74, 79, 108, 144, 149, 

178, 334; sacrificial dishes for, 336, 359-360; 

tortoise-shell bowls for, 288 
Toboggans, 212 
Toilet-sets, 136-139 
Tomahawk, see Trade axe 
Tools, of silversmiths, 281-282; of wood-workers, 

287-288; stone, 139. See Implements 
Tortoisee, carved, 368; native names for, 207 
Tortoise-shell bowls, 288-289 
Totem animal, carved, 139, 308; on bag, 264; 

on grave-post, 80, 341. See Gentes 
Tottenville, N. Y., Thunderbird design from, 262 
Toys, 215, 326. See Games 
Trade axe, 318 
Trails, blazing of, 58, 209 
Transplanting of wild rice, 143 
Trappings of horse, 212-213 
Traps, game taken in, 173, 187-188. See 

Snares 
Travel, means of, 211-223; perils of, 209-211 
Travelers, corn preparation for, 158; followed by 

lynx, 191; molested by supernatural beings, 32 
Travoix, 212 
Trays for winnowing, 148, 159 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 


469 


Trial of murder, 52 

Triangle designs, 269 

Triangular arrowpoints, 327, 375 

Trickster, cycle of, 37, 77 

Tridents for fishing, 200-201 

Trinkets, boxes for holding, 274 

Tripod, kettle suspended on, 92 

Trout, smoked, 204 

True stories, tribal, 78 

Trunks, buffalo-hide, 296-298 

Tube, as rattle, 134; for roach spreader, 113; 

Je'sako cure effected by, 72, 351 
Tufts, as decoration. 111; of down, 121, 366; of 

dyed deer's hair, 320, 355 
Tnr'bans, sashes worn as, 109, 111, 120, 238 
Turkey, tufts of, as roach, HI; turkeys, witches 

transformed into, 69 
Turkey-beard, an evil charm, 341 
Turkey-feathers, arrows feathered with, 325 
Turtle, arrowpoints made from claws of, 322: 

eating of, 179-180; etched on grave-post, 341; 

mediumship of, 71 ; woven on bag, 264; turtles: 

dice in form of, 337; incised on comb-case, 139; 

molds shaped like, 171. See Tortoises 
Tiixezer-bags in toilet set, 138 
Tweezers for eradicating hair, 130-131, 136 
Twilled weaving, 236, 242, 248, 293 
Twined weaving, 232-234 
Two-holed gorgets, 375 

Ukema'was, or luck-charm, 67, 335 
Unami, see Delawares 

L^«c/g,. duties of, to partizan, 61; of corn myth, 
154-156 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





470 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




Undeanness, during mourning, 81-82; of death, 
145; of menses, 52, 54, 93, 145, 314; of partu- 
rition, 52 

Uncles and aunts, title of mankind, 39, 164, 357 

Undergrotmd Panther, see Great Underground 
Panther 

Underhill, Wis., native name for village-site at, 
385 

Underneath gods, 29-33, 177; kettles gift of, 285- 
286; placation of, 32-33, 144, 149, 167; wild 
rice gift of, 142-145. See Malevolent powers 

United States National Museum, wallets in, 232, 
234 

Universe, concept of, 29-46 

Urine of Ma"nabus, 165 

Vat used in sugar-making, 168-169, 173 
Vegetables, native names for, 152-153, 163-164 
Vegetal, colors, 344; dyes, 248; foods, 142-173. 

See Dyes, Fiber, Herbs 
Venetian beads, embroidery in, 266 
Venison, native terms for, 197-198; preparation 

of, 193-194, 309 
Venom, arrowpoints smeared with, 327 
Vermilion, in cosmetic holder, 136; in love charm, 

335; on grave-post, 80, 260, 341. See Red 
Vertical weaving, 243 
Vessel, see Pottery 
Victory dance, 63, 74 
Village people, a band name, 379-380 
Village-sites, ancient, 83-84, 101, 105-106, 280, 

326-327, 362, 370-375, 379-382, 386; native 

names of, 383-390 
Virginia, Algonkians of, 314; weaving in, 231 
Visions, see Dreams 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



471 



Vocabulary, for birds and mammals, 196-198; 
for clothing, 140-141; for fishing, 207-208; for 
houses, 107-108; for prehistoric implements, 
378; for string, 251; for sugar-making, 172- 
173; for tanning, 229; for vegetal foods, 152- 
153, 163-164; household, 309-310. See Names 

Vomiting of arrow, 72 

Wa'bano or Morning Star, cult of, 71, 96, 97; 

drum of, 349-351; prophets of, 33; statue of, 

97-98, 331-332, 338 
Wahpeton, see Sionan tribes 
Waists, 125-126, 141 
Wakajona pc, native name of Chief Wa'kitcon. 

See Wa kitcon, Chief 
Wake, duration of, 78 
Wa'kitcon, Chief, village of, 388-389 
Wallet as war-bundle wrapper, 313. See Bags, 

Pouches 
Walnut, spoons of, 289 

Wampum, belt as reward, 62; imitation, neck- 
laces of, 126-127; string as declaration of war, 

60 
Wd'nawat, native name for John Wa'pus. See 

Wa'pus, John 
Wand, carried at Dream dance, 122; for distance 

hurling, 368 
Wandering Jew, supernatural being like, 31-32 
Wa'niskum, acknowledgment to, 20; warclub of, 

315-316 
Wa' pan or dawn, derivation of Ma''nabus from, 

36-38, 77 
Wa'pus, Dave, acknowledgment to, 20 
Wa' pus, John, resident on Little river, 384 
Wa'pus or hare, derivation of Ma''nabus from, 

36-38 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



472 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




War, customs of, 59-64; gods of, 30, 97, 311, 314; 
lacrosse regarded as mimic, 56; of 1812, 192; 
power of declaring, 51; special arrows for, 322, 
323, 325; special garments for, 113; stories of, 
78 ; with Germany, e^ect of , 27. See Thunder- 
birds, Warriors 

War-bimdles, 310-314; carving in, 343; cere- 
monials of, 61, 313-314; dance of, 74; enemies' 
scalps in, 63-64, 311; given in dreams, 33-34; 
purchase of, 97; Rain dance given to, 75; stone 
axe attached to, 318; used in hunting, 176; 
warclubs attached to, 317; warfare aided by, 
60-62, 319; war power vested in owners of, 
51-52; whistles in, 356; wrappings for, 229, 
241, 311, 313, 340 

Warclubs, 62, 314-319; attached to war-bundles, 
311; carved design of, 338; miniature, 62, 310, 
312, 316; of sleep-causing elf, 32 

War-dance on opening war-bundle, 61 

War eagles, see Golden eagles 

War-paint in war-bundles, 312 

War-pipes, 363-364 

Warren, W. IF., on arrows for large game, 326 

Warriors, cannibahsm of, 191-192; charms given 
to, 62, 312; coiffure of, 130, 335; corn prepara- 
tion for, 158; jinglers of, 355; ornamental 
fillets of, 110-111; pigments for, 136, 312; 
rites of, 44, 63-64, 75, 80; wild rice policed by, 
52 

Washing, of blood from hands, 63-64; of hides, 
226-227; of rice, 149; of soul, 45; of sugar 
kettles, 172 

Wd'sikwondl, acknowledgment to, 20 

Waste, penalties for, 147, 167, 171-172, 176, 178 

Wata'kunina, war-bundles given through, 60 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



473 



WaUi'p or pine-root, thread of, 218-220, 222 

Watch-chain design, 266 

Water, bones of bear placed in, 177; determining 

location of villages, 106; manitous of, 147; 

wild rice springing from, 143 
Water-drum, 345-347 
Waterfalls, supernatural denizens of, 32 
Waukechon, Wis., village-site near, 389 
Wave, wolf assisted by, 46 
Wax or maple wax, 171, 172 
Ways of the Great Dawn, 40. See Mitd'uin 
Weapons, 310-330; kept from women in menses, 

93; miniature, 215; significance of, in graves, 

44, 80; vermilion designs on, 260 
Weasel, supernatural power of, 174, 312 
Weasel-skins in war-bundle, 311; medicine-bags 

of, 274 
Weather, supernatural control of, 50, 118, 145, 

147, 156, 167 
Weaving: bags, 159, 213, 231-238, 259-266, 313, 

366-367; baskets, 293-294; beadwork, 118- 

120, 122, 125, 126, 136, 138, 252-266, 348; 

designs, 279, 330-331; heddles for, 257-258, 

310. 338. mats, 238-248; quillwork, 123, 125, 

275; variety in, 230; yarn sashes, 109, 111, 

124, 238; yarn tobacco-pouches, 120, 366-367 
West, realm of Na'^patiio in, 46, 81; symbolic 

color for, 268-269 
West Branch settlement. Wis., native name for, 

389 
Western tribes, use of floral designs by, 277; 

weaving of, 234 
West, G. A., on prehistoric pipes, 364 
Whirlwind design on dance-bustle, 121 
Whistles, reed, 311, 355-356 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



474 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




White, dice, 368; dye, 344; flint, arroAvpoints of, 
322; quartz, arrowpoints of, 322, 327; sym- 
bolism of, 269; wrappers of war-bundles, 311 

White com, 157 

White Deer inhabiting underworld, 31 

Whitefish, catching of, 202 

Whitefish, Teko, silversmith, 282 

White, John, warclubs described by, 314 

White oak, bows made of, 321 

II7///C raccoon, dog so called, 179 

White Rapids, Wis., native name for village-site 
at, 386 

Whites, accounts by, of Menomini, 28-29; battle 
of, with Indians, 41; pipe-forms derived from, 
364^365. See Europe 

White Siiwi inhabiting empyrean, 30 

Whitewood log, water-drum of, 345 

Whooping at victory dance, 63 

Wicker-work weaving, 293 

Wife, status of, 54-56 

Wigwam, see Semi -globular lodge 

Wi'kop, cord of, 227-228, 247-249. See Bass- 
wood-hark 

Wildcat, hunting of, 185, 191; native name for, 
196 

Wild Jim Crow, see So'man Jim 

Wild potatoes, edible, 152-153 

Wild rice, 371; caches for, 101-102, 384; cooking 
of, 149, 151-153, 157, 205; feast of, 144, 148; 
harvesting of, 52, 143-152; storage of, 147, 
150-152, 231; threshing of, 147-151; tradi- 
tions of, 142-143 

Wild Rice Men, see Md''nomdneo Ind'niwug 

Willow, basketry, 294-295; hoop, 345; wands, 
venison dried on, 193 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



475 



Wind, deer's fur changed by, 178 

Winged bannerstones, 375 

Wings, designs from, 271-272 

Winnebago, carved ladles of, 292; clothing of, 
133; customs of, 27-28; data gathered among, 
20; decorative designs of, 256, 258, 264, 273; 
effect of war with Germany on, 27; hair-binder 
of, 141; leggings of, 115; Menomini related to, 
372-373; Peyote religion among, 24, 42; semi- 
globular lodges of, 86; waist of, 126; warclubs 
of, 318; weaving of, 234; Woman's dance of, 
75, 349; woven bandoleers of, 119 

Winneconne, Wis., native name for lake near, 
388; native name for site at, 388; village-sites 
near, 381 

Winnowing of corn, 159; of rice, 148-151 

Winter, prolongation of, 118; sites of Menomini, 
84 

Winter lodge, see Semi-globular lodge 

Wi'sdnokut, acknowledgment to, 20; residence 
of, 389; statue belonging to, 332 

Wisconsin, catlinite from, 361; copper imple- 
ments in, 280; derivation of name, 381; ethgy 
mounds in, 264; ^Menomini reservation in, 96, 
128; Menomini sites in, 83, 370-375, 382-390; 
prehistoric pipes of, 362; shells of, 376-378 

Wisconsin Archeological Society, 382; Menomini 
sites described in, 83 

Wisconsin Archeologist, article on place-names 
in, 383 

Wisconsin River people, a band group, 381 

Witch-bundle ceremonies, 341 

Witchcraft, disease caused by, 72; human sacrifice 
in, 384; powers of, 69-71, d,Z?>-2>2>A, 336, 341; 
stories of, 78 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



476 


ME NO MINI CULTURE 




Witches, formulae against, 175; medicines of, 67; 
rattlesnake charm against, 128; society of, 
69-71. See Sorcerers 

Wm'skdsit, Mrs, acknowledgment to, 20 

Wizards, hunting-charms of, 176; tales about, 
77. See Sorcerers 

Wolf, assisted by wave, 46; wolves: deer sub- 
ject to, 174-176, 178; luring of, 185; mal- 
treaters of, punished, 45 

Wolf or Na'-^patao, birth of, 35-36. See 
Na'=^patdo 

Wolf river, native names for, 388-389; paint on. 
137; sturgeon in, 199; village-sites along, 84, 
371, 380 

Wolf River people, a band group, 380 

iro//-5Hw, fillets of. Ill 

Wolf-Wave, linked gentes, 46-48 

Woman, earth personified as, 35; women: appli- 
qued garments of, 267-273; aunts title of, 39, 
164, 357; care of children by, 214-215; cattails 
gathered by, 244; coiffure of, 122-123, 132; 
dance of, 75, 349; dress of, 122-130, 141; ears 
of corn tested by, 159; facial painting of, 132; 
friendship design of, 261, 265; hair eradicated 
by, 131; in league with Thunder, 263; in men- 
ses, 52, 54, 93, 145, 314; knives of, 12/; lodges 
built by, 88-89; matsproperty of, 247; orna- 
ments of, 128-129; part of, in canoe building, 
217-219, 221; part of, in rice harvest, 145-147; 
parturition of, 52; pipes of, 362; reeds gathered 
by, 239; sashes of, 238; shinny belonging to, 
56; Sky-sisters presiding over, 30, 268-269; 
string made by, 249; war-bundles granted to, 
60; warriors' scalps received by, 63-64; weav- 
ing by, 256 




INDIAN NOTES 



INDEX 



477 



Woman's dance, 75; drum of, 349 
Wood, arrows and shafts of, 323-327; beaming- 
tool of, 226; bowls of, 73, 286-288; bows of, 
312, 320-322, 369; boxes of, 113, 299; canoes 
of, 208, 216, 222-223; carving of, 92, 203, 213, 
310, 312, 317, 332-339, 347, 354, 356-357, 
359-360; combs of, 123; cooking utensils of, 
169-173, 309; cradles of, 214; cylinder of, 72; 
decorative strips of, 121; deer-call of, 185; 
dolls of, 70, 332-336; etching of, 312, 340-343; 
floats of, 201, 205; flutes of, 356-357; games of, 
367-369; grave-posts and shed of, 80-81, 99, 
260, 340-341; grills of, 102-103; in building, 
88-89, 91-93, 100, 216-222; jacklight of, 
185; molds of, 171; mortars of, 159,288, 303- 
304; paddles of, 148, 160, 170, 205, 222; paint- 
ing on, 330; pestles of, 159, 303; pipestems of, 
363; platter of, 359; pot-hooks of, 102; rubbing 
tool of, 225, 227; saddles of, 212-213; sap- 
spout of, 167; sculpture in, 97-98, 331; spoons 
of, 170, 173, 215, 286, 289-293, 33j5 
Wood-ashes, kettles scoured with, 172;- lye of, 

161,237 
Woodchuck, carved on saddle, 213; superstition 
concerning, 194; tails of, as decoration, 351 
Woodchuck-skin, tobacco pouches of, 366 
Wood-duck, native name for, 197; toilet set 

adorned with, 138 
Woodland tribes, see Forest tribes 
Wood-tortoise, shell of, for bowls, 288 
Wool, buffalo, use of, 120, 232, 238, 251, 265; 

yarn, garter lengthened with, 253 
Worship, games a form of, 56 
Wounds healed by war-bundles, 310 
Woven beadwork, see Beadwork, woven 



AND MONOGRAPHS 



478 


MENOMINI CULTURE 




Wrappers, for puppets, 333-334; for rattles, 
352-354; for war-bundles, 229, 241, 311, 313, 
340; quilled, of pipestems, 275 

Wrist-bands, jinglers on, 355 

Yarn, bags, weaving of, 213, 231-232, 310, 313; 
buffalo-wool, 120, 232, 238, 251, 265; com- 
bined with fiber, 233-235; commercial, 231; 
garters of, 120; garters tied with, 253; leggings 
ornamented with, 115; sashes of, 109, HI, 
120, 124; tassels of, 347; tobacco-pouches, 
120, 366-367 
Yellow, dye, 344; face painted with, 132; sym- 
bolism of, 269 
Yellow root, a plant, 135 
Yoke used in gathering sap, 168, 172 
Younger, H. 0., on early Menomini sites, 83 
Yoiitlis dance, 180. See Feast oj first game 

Zigzag, design, 261; twined weaving, 233, 234; 

weaving, 248 
Zoar settlement, Wis., 331, 334, 364; native name 

for, 389 




INDIAN NOTES 






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